Turning Tables
by JustCallMePeighton
Summary: Xerxes was betrayed by her best friend and left for dead, when someone gives her a second chance at life will she be able to embrace the life she always wanted.
1. Betrayal

Turning Tables

Summary: Xerxes was betrayed by her best friend and left for dead, when someone gives her a second chance at life will she be able to embrace the life she always wanted.

Disclaimer: We all know that I am not lucky enough to own Jeff Hardy or anyone else..just Xerxes and the OC(s).

**A/N** Xerxes' name is pronounced (Zerk-sees) for anyone who cares and, for anyone who didn't know, I am a major magic lover. I have a weird obsession for vampires, witches, and warlocks and after reading some of the Hardy mystic stories up here I decided I was comfortable enough to do one of my own. There is a major magical plot to the Hardy family though and it might be difficult to keep up with, but I'll try my hardest to help you guys out. Also, the death scene in this chapter was inspired by something I saw on a documentary that I just felt was so sad and in order to avoid making it exactly alike I had altered some details.

Chapter 1: Betrayal

…...

Today was just like any other day for me. I woke up, I got ready, I ate breakfast, I went to school...unfortunately. I hated this place almost as much as it hated me. The people here were so judge mental and everybody was the same. Except for me. I was different and that's why I was bullied. _'Kids are jealous of your beauty.',_ my mother would say. Bullshit. If anything I was jealous of them. Do you know how agitating it is to hate someone but be jealous of them at the same time? It's outrageously agitating. The so-called beauty she was referring to would be my long jet black hair, my caramel skin, and my silver eyes. If you ask me, I was pretty average except for the eyes.

Thankfully for me though, one more week and I'd be out of here for good. I was a senior at Bridgetown High and in one week school would be out and I would graduating the next morning. Then my life was really going to begin. I'd dreamed of this day for so long. I'd move somewhere far away and get a nice little job. I'd meet the man of my dreams and we'd get married and have little babies. Life would be perfect.

"Xerxes!" Someone called. I looked over my shoulder as I was walking down the hall. It was Tania, my best friend.

"Hi Tania." I smiled. "What's up?" Tania was another one of those beautiful people. She had curly strawberry blonde hair and blue eyes. She was at least an inch taller than me and she was brave.

"I was just gonna ask you if you wanna skip with me today?" She winked. That was another thing about Tania. She was a bad ass. Half the things I did, were because of her.

"I don't know Nia." I said slowly.

"Oh c'mon. I need you today! There's this really cute guy I met Saturday at the mall. I want to hang out with him, but before I do, I of course need my best friends approval." She grinned. I met Tania when I was five. She'd just moved to San Francisco and we were both lonely. It was a chance meeting.

"Alright alright. This guy better be worth it Nia!" I told her. She squealed with excitement and pulled my hand eagerly.

"Don't worry. He will be."

…...

Will be he wasn't. His name was Marcus. He was twenty-five. He lived in his own apartment, drove a decent car, and was cute, but other than that he had nothing going for him. No job, no money of his own, and no life. I didn't really feel comfortable here, but I pushed my worries aside for Tania. She was sitting on the couch cuddling close to Marcus. She looked happy.

"Well Xerxes, what do you think?" Nia asked me.

"Huh?" I asked.

"Marcus. Isn't he hot?" She giggled. He smirked between the two of us waiting for my answer.

"Oh! Um, yea. He's alright." I said. Obviously that wasn't the answer Tania wanted. She rolled her eyes at me and kissed Marcus' cheek before excusing herself to the bathroom.

"So just alright huh?" He said. I stared awkwardly for a moment.

"I uh- I'm sorry. I just didn't wanna come off the wrong way. Nia really likes you, it'd suck if her best friend liked you too." I said.

"Would it really?" He chuckled at me. "You know the old saying, 'the more the merrier'." I had no response to that. I crossed my legs a little tighter. Note to self, never again will I wear a short dress to Marcus' house. Then again, I don't think I'll ever be coming back here.

"So, tell me about yourself kid." He said.

"Well, you probably already know that I'm a senior at Bridgetown. I got accepted to Stanford last month." I told him.

"Smart girl I guess. Anything else?" He asked.

"No." I said hesitantly. "Not really." Luckily for me, Tania wandered back into the room. I felt a wave of relief wash over me.

"I'm back!" She smiled. "What did you two talk about?" She asked plopping back down next to him. I watched as she draped her leg over his lap and grin at him seductively.

"We weren't really talking about much, but I seriously think I should go." I said standing abruptly. I grabbed my purse from off the couch and started for the door.

"Xerxes? Xerx!" Tania called after me. I ignored her and made my way out to my car. Skipping today wasn't the best idea. Tania would be mad at me, but oh well. I felt so much safer out here.

…...

I walked into the kitchen later on that day dressed in my work uniform. I worked at TjMaxx. It was like a dream job. A great employee discount on some really cute and affordable clothes. Anyways, my mom was sitting at the kitchen table sipping on a cup of what I assumed was coffee. She stared at me with a blank expression and I tried not to make eye contact with her. I was positive I already knew what this was about.

"Going to work?" She asked.

"Yes." I nodded.

"Thought you had the day off?" She asked confused.

"I did too, but my boss called in. Monica's sick so I'm pulling the night shift now." I told her.

"Are you sure you won't be too tired? You do know you have school tomorrow morning right?"She asked. "Or do you not attend that place anymore?"

"I'm sorry mom." I sighed.

"Xerxes Eizelle Wellington." She started. "When are you going to open your eyes and realize that your little friends aren't going to do anything but get you in trouble. Sweetie you just got accepted into Stanford University. You keep skipping school like this and you won't even make it there." My mother said.

"I know ma. I'm sorry. I just- Nia's my best friend and I won't be able to see her anymore after school get's out. She'll be moving to Wyoming and I'll be going to California for college." I told her.

"That's no excuse Eizelle. I've told you time and time again that that girl is going to ruin you." She said going to the sink to rinse out her cup.

"Ma I hear you, but I have to go or else I'm going to lose my job too. I love you mama." I said kissing her cheek. I grabbed my stuff and walked out the front door to my car. Once inside I sighed and dropped my head against the steering wheel. I knew my mother meant well, but she didn't know Nia like I did. Sure Nia was a little out there and she could be a real delinquent at times, but she was a good girl and my best friend. Nothing would ever change that.

…...

Work was different today. I felt strange and like I was being watched or followed. Every time I looked over my shoulder nobody was there. Although, I did see some girls from my school. The popular girls. Leslie Carter, Amelia James, and Chelsea Bethe. They usually came here to gawk about how they could go to more expensive places that people who came here 'couldn't afford'. So shallow.

"Hey." Someone said. I jumped startled and turned to see Marcus. Shocker.

"What are you doing here?" I asked him.

"Funny, you didn't tell me you worked here beautiful." He said. I looked sideways for a moment and blinked a few times before looking back at him.

"Um, I didn't think it was necessary." I said. He stared at me with a hard glare in silence. I was starting to feel uncomfortable again so I tried to make my move out of there, but he put his arm out in front of me.

"I think we should talk Xerxes." He said quietly.

"I don't think that's such a good idea." I said quickly.

"It won't take that long." He said.

"I have to work. Shouldn't you be with Tania?" I asked trying not to look at him.

"Right now I'm with you." He said.

"Xerxes?" My head snapped towards the direction of the sound. My boss. Thank God for that man.

"Coming Mr. Jones." I said quickly. I moved away from Marcus as he grabbed my arm and squeezed.

"I'm not done with you." He whispered in my ear before letting me go. I let that comment slide off my shoulders and I made my way over to my boss. He placed his arm around me gently and walked away from Marcus with me.

"Xerxes are you okay? What was that all about? Who is that man?" He asked me.

"I'm fine really, it was nothing." I lied.

"Do you know him?" He asked.

"Sorta. He's my best friends boyfriend." I told him. He nodded slowly at me taking it all in.

"Right well, why don't you go on home for the night? I'll take over here for you." He suggested.

"Are you sure? I don't mind staying really." I said shaking my head.

"No no no. It's fine, really Xerxes. Go home. Go to sleep." He smiled. I agreed reluctantly and left slowly out to the parking lot. It didn't take me long to get home granted that I sped most of the way. My mom was surprised to see me home so early. I told her that I wasn't feeling well and I went up to my room to shower and sleep. One day down. About a million more to go.

…...

The next day at school I was waiting in the parking lot for Tania. I'd decided that I would tell her about Marcus and what happened. I just really hoped she'd listen to me. I saw her car pull up and she got out of the vehicle after a moment.

"Nia!" I called hurrying over to her. She looked at me with what seemed like a vicious glare and it puzzled me for a moment. Was she still mad that I left her alone? We met halfway and I smiled lightly at her.

"Hey girly. What's wrong you look upset?" I asked her.

"Really? Should I be?" She asked.

"What? What are you talking about?" I asked her.

"You little slut. I can't believe you. You were supposed to be my best friend Xerx! How could you do this to me!?" She exclaimed.

"Nia, I don't know what you're talking about! I didn't do anything. If you're mad because I left you then I'm sorry. Look, I have to tell you something about Marcus." I told her.

"Oh save your breath. He already told me how you came onto him yesterday." She said. I was taken aback.

"He...he told you that?" I breathed.

"Yea he did. You're a real piece of work ya know that? " She said shaking her head at me.

"No Nia-"

"Save it! If you have anything to say to me, then it better be sorry!" She said making her way back to her car. I watched as she walked away from me. I couldn't run after her now. What the hell was I going to say? I was so confused. Besides, the bell for school to start was ringing now and so were my mothers words in my head. I'd have to chase after friends later.

…...

School was finally over and I was racing out to find Nia. I was sure she was with him. I didn't really want to go there, but I needed to make amends with her. I pulled into the driveway and got out of my car. My phone started ringing in my purse. It was my mom.

"Hello?" I answered.

_'Hey hun! I just thought that since you had the day off today that maybe we could spend some quality time together. It's been so long since we've had a mother daughter day ya know?' _Her voice chimed over the phone. I was barely hearing what she was saying. My eyes were focused on the house that seemed to be full of life and people.

"Yea sure mom. I just- I have to do a couple things first." I told her.

_'Oh well okay then. Meet me at the mall? Then we can head out to your favorite Japanese restaurant for dinner, OK?'_ I nodded to myself.

"OK. I'll meet you there. Bye mom."

_'Bye sweetie. I love you.' _She said.

"Mhm." I said before hanging up. I slid the phone in my purse and began towards the door before I remembered something. Crap, short dress again.

…...

"Who is it!?" Marcus called through the door. I shivered hearing his voice. I cleared my throat.

"Xerxes! Is Nia here? I need to talk to her." I said. The door opened quickly and there he was in my face again.

"Xerxes." He smiled down at me. "Well don't you look pretty today. Ya know, we were just about to invite you over." He said.

"Really?" I asked puzzled.

"Yep. C'mon in." He said opening the door wider and stepping aside. I reluctantly moved inside the house. There were quite a few people here. I'd never seen them before aside from Tania and Marcus. There were two other girls and three guys. They all stared at me with curious smiles on their faces.

"Xerx!" Tania exclaimed rushing over to me. "I'm really sorry about earlier today. I overreacted. Stay. Party with us." She said.

"I can't stay actually. I just came to talk and then I have to go. My mom's waiting for me at the mall." I told her.

"Oh...okay...let's talk then." She smiled.

"Could I use the restroom first please?" I asked. Marcus pointed me in the right direction and I nodded my thanks and went on my way setting my purse down at the table. I shut and locked the door after me and stared in the mirror. Tania was acting so strange. She was probably drunk. I didn't want to be here anymore. I wanted to go home. I wanted to be with my mom. I ran my hand through my hair and decided I could talk to Tania later when Marcus wasn't around.

I heard something strange outside and pressed my ear to the door. They were talking and laughing. Something got thrown against the wall. Something was dumped on the floor. I opened the bathroom door quickly and stared at them unbelieving.

"My phone!" I yelled. "My- my purse!?" All the contents of my bag had been dumped on the floor and my phone laid broken on the ground next to Marcus' foot.

"Oops. Guess we got a little clumsy guys." Tania cooed with a smile on her face as I dropped to the ground trying to recover my desolated objects. I looked at her and shook my head.

"What the hell Nia!? What is your problem!?" I shouted pushing her.

"Keep your hands off of me you little bitch!" She yelled pushing my back. I fell into the arms of one of the guys there as Tania rushed us and shoved her hands around my throat choking me.

"You thought you could get away with trying to steal my boyfriend?!" She screamed as the others crowded around us grinning and laughing.

"Nia...please." I cried out.

"Go get the bleach!" She yelled at one of the girls. They complied with her orders and came back with a bottle of bleach. Marcus came over then and grabbed a handful of my hair dragging me into the bathroom with the girl and her bottle of bleach following close behind us. She unscrewed the cap and he held my mouth open as she poured the substance into my mouth. I began coughing and crying as I tried not to swallow, and then not to vomit.

"Aw the poor little tramp's crying guys." Nia cooed again. I spilled my guts into the toilet, my hands clinging onto my stomach. "Hit her!" She yelled. And Marcus did. I fell to the floor my hands flying up to my face as they jumped on me. The blows were coming from everywhere. My left and my right. I was almost positive I'd pass out before they stopped, but I didn't. They stopped before I could. I felt Tania grab a hold of my hair and she started cutting it off. My beautiful beautiful hair.

"Nia stop!" I begged. "Why are you doing this!?" I asked confused. She was my best friend and now she was hurting me.

"Take her to the bedroom boys." She said ignoring me. I reached for her leg and she kicked my hand away.

"Finally." Marcus said. "This is going to be the best part of your night Xerxes." He said smugly dragging me down the hall to the bedroom. They hovered over me and I watched them with horror and pain in my eyes as they shut the door. I'd never done this before. I'd never been a man..or a girl. This wasn't how I pictured my first time. Being beaten and battered. Tortured. Then left in an attic. I was so weak and tired. My body ached and my head was racked with pain. All I could do was think about my mom. She was probably wondering where I was. I didn't even tell her I loved her and now I would probably never get the chance. I vomited some more and eventually the next morning Marcus came to drag me back downstairs into the bathroom and left me to lay there.

"We need to think of something." I heard Tania whisper.

"We can't just leave her here." One of the other girls said.

"Well we can't let her go either!" The other girl said. "If she tells people what we did to her...oh my God. My mother will never look at me the same way." She cried. My mother would never look at me again either.

"Fine. I know what we have to do...kill her." Tania said.

"I'll do it." Marcus said. I could feel what little pieces of my heart I had left pounding faster and faster. My breathing increased to the point where I could barely breath again. My throat hurt. I couldn't scream. My eyes were swollen. I didn't want to cry. I heard his footsteps all over. I saw him through swollen eyes as he and Tania approached me. Knife in hand. God please, spare me my life.

"I won't lie to you Xerxes. You were truly the best friend I've ever had, but all good things come to an end don't they?" She smirked and kissed Marcus once before he stared down at me, raised the knife, and finally ended my misery.


	2. A New Life

Turning Tables

Disclaimer: We all know that I am not lucky enough to own Jeff Hardy or anyone else..just Xerxes and the OC(s).

Chapter 2: A New Life

…...

After murdering me they placed me back in the attic and waited til night fall before they moved my body. I sat in the back seat of the car listening to Nia and Marcus argue. My dead, cold, battered body in the trunk decorated in Christmas lights. My mom had called the police when I didn't come home two nights ago. Now the police were involved. Fortunately for Nia, her mom knew she was with Marcus. He was her alibi. Which worked perfectly because I'd never told my mom about Marcus. I didn't know where my car had disapeared too. I guessed one of their accomplices ditched it somewhere.

I followed them in the dark of the night as they carried my naked and decorated body over to a trash can next to an elementary school. How careless. The trashcan toppled over and Marcus set it back up. He put the lid on the can, but didn't notice the chopped pieces of my hair that hung out.

"Tania shut up! Shut the hell up! We are not going to get caught alright? We won't. We have an alibi. Nobody saw her. Her family knows nothing of me. Let's just get back to my apartment and clean everything up." Marcus yelled. Tania nodded her head quickly in agreement and they jumped in the car and drove off.

By the time the morning came and the little kids began arriving I was still standing next to the trashcan. I was wondering if that myth was true. Could little kids really hear and see ghost? Now was my chance to try. A little girl was walking up towards the steps to enter the big school building. My eyes were focused on her. The students wore name tags for safety reasons.

"Cara." I breathed into the air. The little girl stopped and looked around confused. "Come here Cara. Come to me." I called. She looked in my direction. She didn't seem scared of me, if she could see me that is. I waved her over slowly and she came to me.

"Open it Cara. Open it." My voice sounded like a million voices all at once. She looked at the lid on the trashcan and moved towards it.

"Yes Cara. Open it." I urged. Tania, Marcus and their friends...they wouldn't get away with this. She pulled the lid off the trashcan and I watched her little eyes widen and her scream filled the air.

…...

"I don't see why it's necessary." I sighed.

"It's necessary because I said it is. That's how it's been for years now Jeff and it will stay that way. Your great great great grandfather started this new legacy and I for one applaud him for it." She said.

"The only reason you like it is because it gave you a chance to get money and power in your pockets." I muttered.

"Excuse me? That is not true! I love your father more than anything in this whole entire world and I've done so for many years now! My gosh, I don't know what your problem is with women, but I suggest you fix it before I decide to hand the thrown over to Lucas. I bet you he's more than willing to take it." She said smirking. I looked at her with furious eyes while approaching her slowly and menacingly. The millions of times I've had to set her in her place and she never seemed to get it.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" I asked her.

"Your mother."

"No." I bit out. "You are _not_ my mother. You are simply some pathetic little whore that my father dragged off the streets and felt sorry for. My mother, was a noble woman. She was respectable and people actually loved her. You are not and will never be anything compared to her, so stop fucking trying."

"Such bitter feelings." She muttered.

"Jeffrey." I looked at the man who'd called my name. My father. He stood on the top step of the patio staring curiously at me.

"Laura?" He said next. Laura smiled victoriously into her glass of champagne and gently dismissed me with her arm.

"Good morning dear." She greeted him batting her eyelashes.

"What's going on out here?" He asked.

"Oh Troen." She cooed gliding over to him. "Jeff's feeling a bit ill about the passing of the throne. I tried explaining to him that it's become tradition to have a wife first, but he just won't listen to me. He hates me." She pouted.

"You're damn right I do!" I said.

"Stop." My father said. "You will not speak ill to Laura. Whether you like it or not, she's your mother now. You will treat her with respect and nothing less than that. And as for the throne situation. You _will_ take a wife to the throne with you. After that, and when you both have your crowns, I could honestly care less what the hell you do with her." He said.

"Say she get's vanquished by a rival demon if you choose not to make her immortal, then the decision will be left to you to choose someone else to fulfill her royal duties." He added.

"I honestly don't see why you're so mad at us. It's not our fault you haven't succeeded the throne yet. Blame that Heidi girl you were so in love with. She's the one-"

"Shut up!" I snapped.

"Jeff!" My father exclaimed. "What did I just get done telling you!?"

"If you want me to respect her then she better respect me!" I growled.

"Oh for crying out loud this is like raising a bunch of babies." My father sighed.

"Whatever. I'm leaving." I said turning my back on them and blinking away.

…...

I watched my best friend parade around her bedroom dancing to whatever song came on. She was so full of life all the time. Her red hair danced in the air bouncing with every spin she made. Her brown eyes lit up with happiness. Then she stopped dancing and she looked up at the ceiling and smiled.

"I know you're here Hardy. Come out come out where ever you are." She giggled.

"You make this game a lot less fun when you acknowledge the fact that I'm here." I said making myself visible to her.

"Well if I didn't know you were here, then that would make you a psychotic stalker right?"

"Your type of guy huh?" I joked.

"Oh whatever. You are no where near my type of guy." She said. "I Taeler Conrad-Mellen, more formally known as Taeler Hendrix, am into the nerdy guys who wear the Harry Potter glasses and dress like Steve Urkel." She announced.

"But you like normal guys when it comes down to getting laid?" I asked.

"You're not normal Jeff." She smiled.

"I wasn't referring to me. I was referring to Rob Terry. I can't believe you cheated on me with that overgrown muscle head." I chuckled.

"Aw baby no! I was drunk and I accidentally let him put his dick inside me...accidentally." She cooed stoking my cheek.

"Oh whatever! Those things just don't accidentally happen you lying tramp!" I exclaimed.

"Coming from the guy who said he accidentally slept with Val like three times in one night." She frowned.

"Why are you bringing up the past Taeler!?" I asked her.

"It was two years ago Jeff!"

"Years bitch, years!" She stared at me with angry eyes for a moment before we both took off into fits of laughter. Taeler and I were not together. We were just two best friends who enjoyed acting out in public to freak people out.

"Ya know I think this is going to be a real hit as long as we can make it to the violence part when we go to the restaurant." She laughed as we both fell back onto the bed.

"So do I Taeler, but really though. I can't believe you slept with him." I said after calming down.

"I'm sorry Jeff, but I had to know if he had all those muscles because he was overcompensating for having a small penis." She told me while nodding.

"And how did your experiment go?" I wondered.

"I shouldn't have messed with The Freak." She confirmed. "So what's up with your throne business bruh?"

"Laura." I growled. "I can't stand that woman. Why can't she just understand that I don't want a wife."

"Jeff." The red head started. She rolled over on her side and laid a tiny pale hand on my cold chest and sighed.

"Are you still in love with her?" She asked. I knew exactly who she was talking about. I was still in love with her. That's why this was so hard. I didn't want anyone else. I just wanted her.

"I'm not talking about this Taeler." I said sitting up.

"Fine, suit yourself. You know that I'm always here for you though." She told me.

"I do." I said smiling lightly at her. I leaned over and gave her a quick peck on the cheek.

"Oh that reminds me!" She exclaimed then. "Have you heard about that girl?" She asked.

"No. What girl?" I asked.

"Jeff it's all over the news. It's become like a world wide thing. People are mad, sad, and everything in between." She said.

"I haven't watched the news today. I don't ever watch the news." I said. She rolled her eyes and went to get to the remote from the dresser and turned on the tv. The first thing I saw was the 'breaking news' label and a woman giving details into what Taeler was talking about.

"Breaking news today as the search for missing eighteen year old Xerxes Wellington has now come to an unfortunate end. The Bridgetown High Senior was found around eight o' clock this morning by a little girl attending an elementary school. Wellington's body was said to be in a trashcan outside the school. She was completely naked accept for some Christmas lights that were wrapped around her."

"The girl was said to have gone missing two days before the discovery of her body. The report was called in by her mother who said she and her daughter were supposed to have met later that day at a local mall. There are no suspects right now in the police investigation, but deputies and detectives are not giving up. It is not been said yet whether this was an act of racial discrimination or if the city of San Francisco has a psychopath on their hands."

"Well then." I said.

"Yea. I looked online for pictures of her. She was so pretty Jeff." Taeler said. "Ask me how pretty she was."

"How pretty was she Taeler?" I chuckled.

"I'm so glad you asked. I'll show you." She reached towards the head of the bed and grabbed her cell phone. I waited patiently as she went to Google. There were photos of the girl everywhere. I will admit, she was pretty. Hell, I'd even go as far to say that she was fucking beautiful.

"How old is she again?" I said as a sinister thought came into my mind.

"She's eighteen...and dead." Taeler said.

"Not for long." I smirked. Taeler looked up at me slowly with a questioning look in her eyes. I grinned deviously at her hinting my motives and she gasped shocked shaking her head to express her disapproval.

"Jeffrey Nero Hardy! I can't even believe you'd think of such a thing! No, that's a lie, I can. But you shouldn't! That's so wrong and just..wrong." She frowned.

"Taeler what about my life isn't wrong? Instead of being mixed with races, I'm mixed with fucking magical beings! I am part Warlock part Vampire! I've been walking this Earth for almost one hundred years doing things that are far worse than what I'm thinking now. This compared to everything else makes me look and feel like an angel!" I exclaimed.

"You are ridiculous Jeff." She spat.

"Okay I tell you what, after I do what I need to do and get my throne and what not, I'll give the crown to you. We can be best friends ruling the underworld and the vampire kingdom together." I said. Now I had her attention. Taeler wasn't a vampire. She was just a plain old warlock, but she longed to be apart of my other world. It was apart of her theory of how much closer we could be as friends if she were.

"I...I could rule Vampire Nation?" She breathed.

"Yes Taeler. You could rule vampire nation." I assured her.

"We'll be a whole?"

"Yea sure a whole whatever, look are you in or not?" I asked.

"I feel so bad Jeff." She sighed.

"Look at this way Taeler." I said coming closer to her. "We'll be giving her a second chance at life. And in this one...she feels no pain. Ever." Taeler looked at me with wary eyes still but finally stuck her pinky out.

"Deal."

…...

My funeral was pretty sad. Then again I guessed that's how all funerals should be. I stood in spirit across from my mother while she poured her tears of sorrow to the ground. My grandfather sat next to her rubbing her back trying to soothe her. My aunt Felicia, she sat like she always did. Quiet. No emotion showing. The thing I couldn't stand though was Tania. Sitting by my mother holding onto her. Crying. Marcus next to Tania. Head hung low.

"Fakers." I breathed into the wind. "Tania. You don't belong. Don't belong here." I watched as her head rose from my mama's shoulder. She looked towards my coffin.

"Xerx?" She mumbled.

"You. You did this to me!" I walked with an invisible stride over to her. "Leave. Go away." I commanded.

"Oh my God." She whispered.

"Tania?" My mother sniffled. "Are you alright?"

"Be gone Tania! Leave!" I yelled. Tania jumped up from her seat startled.

"Tania?!" My mother asked again.

"What's wrong?" Marcus asked.

"I- I can't do this. It's just..it's too sad. I have to leave now." She cried running off through the graveyard with Marcus hot on her heels. I followed them out. The rage the was flowing in my ghost was so realistic. He waited til they were out of sight to grab Tania's arm and shake her. She pushed him away from her.

"Don't touch me! Don't. Touch. Me." She said pointing angrily towards him. "This is your fault!" She yelled in a hushed tone.

"My fault? _My_ fault!? You're the one who said kill her! I'm pretty sure if we let had let her go she wouldn't of told anyone. She could've lied and said it wasn't us if we wanted her to, but no, no you just had to have things done your way!" He argued back.

"I might have been the one that said it, but you're the one who did it!"

"And!? She was _your_ friend Tania! She begged you to help her! She begged you to stop! She reached out for you and you kicked her away! I'm not saying that I didn't do anything wrong, because I know I did. Difference between us Nia is that I can live with what I did..can you?"

…...

"Nia." I sang. "I'm watching you Nia. Don't cry."

"Please." She sobbed rocking back and forth on her bedroom floor. "Please stop. Just go away now. Leave me alone."

"No." I snapped. "I'm here to stay Nia. I'm going to haunt you forever and ever. I'm going to kill you Nia." Could I really kill her? Not sure, but I could make her kill herself. Or at least make her think I would.

"No! No no no no no! Shut up, shut up!" She screamed. I taunted her over her screams and pleas. She was going insane and I was loving it. She deserved this. I stood behind her now. I reached for her head and wondered if she could feel me.

"Nia!?" Someone shouted. I looked towards her bedroom door. "Nia open the door!" It was her mother. She was going to ruin my fun.

"Mommy!" She screamed running towards the door.

"Tell her Nia!" I commanded. "Tell her what they did to me! What you did! Tell her! Tell her Nia!"

"Mom!" She sobbed opening the door.

"Sweetie what's wrong? Why are you crying?!" Her mother asked.

"Xerxes." She told her.

"Oh hunny I know. I know you're hurting and you miss her. I know." She said hugging her daughter.

"No." Nia said.

"Tell her." I whispered.

"No what?" Her mother asked.

"You don't know. You don't know." She said.

"What? What don't I know?" She asked her daughter confused.

"Mom I did it." She said. "Marcus, Josh, Trevor, Rachel, Nicole, and I. We did it. We did it!"

"Tania...you...oh my God Nia!"

"Mom I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" She said falling to her knees.

"Nia, I'm calling her mother. We're going down to the station and you're going to tell them what you did to her. Do you understand me?" She asked. Nia didn't respond to her.

"Do you understand me Nia!?" She yelled.

"Yes! Fine, I'll go mom just please, please make her stop talking to me. Please make her leave me alone."

…...

"Wednesday, April 3rd, 2013. My name is Detective Wagner. I'm here with Tania Stabler. Tania, can you tell me how you knew the victim?" The detective asked. Tania stared at him with sore eyes. She looked disheveled and crazed. My mother stood with Mrs. and Mr. Stabler on the opposite side of the interrogation window listening. I also stood there with a smile upon my ghastly frame waiting for the truth to be told.

"She and I...we were best friends." She said. "We met when we were five."

"I see. Tania, did you ever get mad at Ms. Wellington?" He asked next.

"Yes." She said.

"Why? Was she an unreliable person? Did she ever hurt you? What did she do to make you mad at her?"

"She...I don't know. I just- I got mad at her a lot." She answered.

"What about the day she was supposed to meet her mother..were you mad at her then?" He asked. Tania nodded. "Tell me about it."

"Well...we um...we had had a fight before school started that day. My boyfriend Marcus, he'd told me that she came onto him when he saw her at her job the day before." She said.

"And you believed him?"

"Yes. I did. I shouldn't have." She said.

"What happened after the fight?" He asked.

"I left school. I went to Marcus' house and later on Xerxes came by. Marcus answered the door, they talked for a minute and he invited her in. I told her she should stay and party with us, but she said no. She said she just wanted to talk."

"Did you two talk?" He asked.

"No. She went to the bathroom and my friends and I-"

"The names of these friends please."

"Rachel and Nicole Benson, Josh Wheatley, Trevor Brown, Marcus Ingram, and I." She told him as he scribbled the names down.

"Continue."

"We um...we took her phone and we threw it against the wall and we dumped her stuff out of her purse. She opened the door and she came out yelling at us then she pushed me and I got mad again and I started choking her. Rachel got the bleach and Marcus took her into the bathroom and they made her drink it. She started throwing up and the guys started beating her and I told them to stop."

"Then I got a knife and I started cutting her hair off. When I got tired of that, I told them to take her to the bedroom and...and we raped her." The detective had stopped writing in his pad and he looked up at her.

"You..you all raped her?" He asked for clarification.

"Yes."

"What were you thinking in the midst of all this?" He asked.

"I was having fun at the time." She admitted choking back tears.

"Please continue." He said clearing his throat.

"We left her in the attic and then the next morning Marcus dragged her back to the bathroom and I decided she had to die so we didn't get caught. So Marcus got a knife and he stabbed her. Then we left her back in the attic til night and we wrapped her up in lights and drove out to the elementary school and we left her in the trashcan. Then we left and it was done."

"Ms. Stabler...I just want you to know that you are a sick, sick person. This was your best friend and you let these people defile her and victimize her and not only did you let them, but you helped them. I'm placing you under arrest for the murder of Xerxes Wellington."

I watched with delight as they handcuffed her. Officers were being sent out for the others. Revenge had never tasted sweeter. I turned to my mother. She was so heartbroken. I just wanted to console her now. Before I could make an attempt to move something felt strange. I felt like my spirit was on fire.

"What's happening to me?" I breathed. Was I going to Hell now for getting justice? I looked around as the world around me started to fade away. My mothers broken image began to disappear from my sight. I reached for her to no avail and found myself surrounded by darkness and then tons of my own memories flying so quickly past me. My murder. My mother scolding me. My father's funeral. And then a room. A tall man stood in the room along side a woman with red hair. It was an empty room except for us and a table. I looked to the table and gasped at what lay there. My body. My dead lifeless body.

"Hello Xerxes." He spoke. My eyes shot in his direction.

"You can see me?" I asked him.

"Yep. Sure can and I have a proposition for you." He told me.

"Proposition?" I asked confused.

"Yes. I've brought you here because I'm giving you the choice right now of life...or death." He said.

"But..aren't I already dead?" I asked him.

"That's the point. You can stay like this for all eternity being a bitter cold spirit or I could revive you and you could live again. Of course, if you were to choose the second option, you should be aware that you'd be giving up your life as you knew it. Everyone who ever knew you, loved you, hated you, whatever...all the memories of you would be wiped from existence. You'd be completely unfamiliar to them." He told me.

"Completely unfamiliar." I repeated. "My mother wouldn't remember me." I said.

"Exactly." He said. "But look at the bright side of that, if she doesn't remember you then she doesn't remember losing her only child. You'd be sparing her a shit load of pain and suffering." I was thinking about this now. I didn't want my mom to hurt for the rest of her life. Losing my dad was already hard enough, but now losing me too? That would also probably mean that Tania and the others would walk free...was it really worth it? Yes. It was.

"Why are you doing this?" I asked him then.

"Well isn't it obvious? I feel bad for you. You deserve another chance and I want to give it to you." He said.

"How do I know I can trust you?"

"I give you my word." He said. "Now, will you accept my offer...or not?" The silence grew in the room as I reviewed my options again, but before my long I found myself moving towards the two of them. I extended my hand to him in a offering and he accepted shaking it firmly.

"I accept your offer to live."

…...

**A/N** Okay, this chapter was extremely long, but I needed to get this all in there. So what would you guys do? If you were given the same choice that Jeff gave Xerxes, would you accept it or leave it? Anyways, I see you guys reading the story, but I see no reviews! Show me the love babies! R&R Next chapter to Addicted coming soon :)


	3. Learning The Ropes

Turning Tables

Disclaimer: We all know that I am not lucky enough to own Jeff Hardy or anyone else..just Xerxes and the OC(s).

Chapter 3: Learning The Ropes

…...

The next morning I woke up in an unfamiliar room. I had a terrible headache and I felt sick to my stomach. I lifted a hand to my throbbing head and looked around me. I was in a big bed with big fluffy white blankets. It was kind of dark in this room, except for the dim lights in the ceiling. The room looked something kind of like a loft that was still under renovation. I rolled my wrist around to unstiffen them and I noticed something new on my left wrist. It was a slave ring. It was beautiful. It had six blue oval gems in the middle that connected the ring to the bracelet. I examined the jewelry.

"If you're looking for a way to take it off, you won't find one." Someone said. I looked up and saw the same man I'd seen in my dream. Well now, I guess it wasn't a dream if he was standing here in front of me.

"Who are you? How did I get here?" I asked him.

"My name is Jeff Hardy. You got here because I brought you here. Ya know, last night." He said.

"Last night? I thought that was a dream."

"Nope, not a dream. Reality. I offered you a choice too good to resist." He said.

"I accepted." I said. He nodded at me and walked down the steps and began making his way over to me. This was so confusing. One moment I was a vengeful spirit who was haunting my former best friend and now I'm laying in the bed of a stranger who apparently gave me mt life back?

"What's on your mind?" He asked sitting next to me on the bed.

"I just don't understand. How did you..how did you do this?"

"It's a pretty complicated explanation, but I'll try and make it as simple as possible. Magic. Black magic."

"You're a Warlock? I never knew those things existed." I said.

"Things?" He scoffed.

"Oh my..I am so sorry. I didn't mean it like that, it just came out that way." I said quickly.

"It's alright I get it, and yes I am a warlock. I'm half a warlock actually. My mother was a warlock and so was my father, but when he was a young man he was attacked by a vampire. He survived fortunately and he became one of them. He left his home, his family. He was ashamed. Eventually when his mother got sick and was dying he went back. He promised her she'd live forever and she did."

"His father?" I asked.

"He and his dad were never close. He chose his mistress over my mother. He got sick too though...he died."

"So if you're part warlock and part vamp, you must have a lot of power under your belt." I said.

"I do a pretty damn good job in the sack so yea I'd say I do." He joked. I rolled my eyes at the man and really looked at him for the first time. He was amazing. Breath-taking. His eyes were a beautiful emerald green with little specks of fire orange around the middle. His lips were pink and they looked soft. His mustache was shaven in a tiger stripe pattern and his hair was dyed multiple colors and thrown up in a messy bun.

His arms were well defined. His skin was toned. His body was like the tip of perfection. Part of me just wanted to fuck him repeatedly. Another part of me wanted him to make love to me. Then the last part of me was frightened by him. Frightened because of everything he just told me. Frightened because I didn't know him. Frightened because I was alone with him. I shouldn't have been thinking of him in such ways. It just wasn't safe.

"What is this?" I asked trying to clear my head of all these terrible thoughts. I held the bracelet up for him and he smirked at it.

"It's Valkyrie's Amulet." He said.

"Valkyrie? Was she the woman from last night."

"No. Valkyrie is ancient. Long story short. She was the Princess of her country. She fell in love with a warlock and her village beheaded them both. Before they cut her head off she promised to take her revenge on them all and her spirit is locked away in that amulet along with any magic that was given to her by Rowan, her forbidden lover." He explained.

"I think I need to sleep. This is overwhelming." I said placing a hand on my forehead.

"Sorry about that. Anyways, I originally came down here to greet you and offer you a tour of the house." He said standing up from the bed.

"Sure I guess." I agreed. I tossed the covers off of me and stood up from the bed.

"First stop on the tour is here." He said offering a smile. "This is your new bedroom. It's not finished, but it will be soon. You can decorate it however you wish. Because this used to be the basement, there's no windows. So to keep it from being so dark in here, I installed some lights in here. They're pretty technology based. They have set times. They turn off when the sun goes completely down. They turn on dim when the sunrise begins, they're bright during the day and they dim down when the sunset starts."

"That is so cool." I said staring up at the lights which got brighter since I first woke up.

"Yea. I've added a pretty spacy bathroom in here." He said opening a door. I stepped inside and the lights turned on.

"Motion sensor lights?" I asked.

"Yup." The bathroom was big. It had Jack and Jill sinks. A big bathtub and then a shower. The shower was closed off with glass doors and gold frames around them. The tiles on the floor were marble. There was a closet in the bathroom full of towels and wash clothes and a hamper on the floor.

"I guess Taeler went shopping for you." He said.

"Who's Taeler?" I asked.

"She's the girl from last night." He told me. "C'mon." I followed him out of the bathroom and we walked over to another door in the room.

"This is the walk in closet." He said. Again with automatic lights. The closet was so big. It has shelves for shoes and tons of space for clothes. There was a mirror on the inside of the door to see myself. I looked in that mirror and ran my hand through my hair. I touched my face and my arms. My stomach. I clung to the tank top that covered my body and then to the shorts that clung to my hips. I thought I'd never be able to do this again. To feel.

"Are you alright?" He asked.

"Yea." I nodded. "I just, I can't believe I'm alive again. Just like that."

"I've been told that being alive is a great feeling." He smiled. I smiled back at him and then moved away from the mirror and out of the closet.

"Who's clothes are these?" I asked him.

"Taeler's." He answered.

"I'm guessing she's a very friendly girl huh?" I asked.

"Oh yea. Real friendly." He said. I followed him up the stairs and all throughout the house. It was big and climbing the one long staircase made me tired. I loved seeing the rooms in the house. Each one had a different theme and they were all so wonderful. His room as the best though. The walls were dark blue and his bed was king sized. He had dark brown blankets on his mattress. The furniture was dark oak wood. The flooring was wood as well. A chandelier hung from the ceiling giving light to the room and a big plasma tv hung on the wall across from the bed. The wall had paintings hanging from them and some pictures of him and a beautiful red head. The girl from last night. Taeler. There were quite a few frames and portraits.

"You have a knack for decorating." I giggled.

"I didn't do this. Taeler did this. She practically lives here." He sighed.

"You don't like that?"

"I don't mind, she's just so weird."

There was only one room in the house that I didn't see. He had said that that room was forever off limits. Not even Taeler went in there. It made me curious to know what was in there. I wanted to know who it belonged to. We made our way back to the kitchen on the second floor. The second floor was pretty much where everyone stayed during the day. Up there was also the living room and the den and all the other fun rooms. Inside the kitchen was the girl I'd be waiting to meet. Taeler.

"Hey Jeffy! Hey there sleepy head. Did you sleep well?" She asked me.

"Um, yes I guess. Thanks for the clothes by the way." I said.

"Oh no problem. I brought you this by the way." She pulled out a little blue dress with a waist belt and handed it to me.

"I figured you'd need some clothes, so I brought you this so you could get dressed and we could go shopping. I picked a dress since well, ya know you don't have any under clothes." She smiled.

"Thanks." I nodded. I didn't see how these girls did this commando thing. It was aggravating. I just felt like I needed something there. Jeff looked at me and then looked back at Taeler.

"Don't even look at me like that. I came fully prepared for this. I didn't 'accidentally' forget my credit card this time." She said rolling her eyes.

"I wasn't even thinking that." He said walking over to the fridge. I watched him pull out a bottle of Gatorade and begin drinking. It puzzled me.

"I thought you could only drink..blood." I said.

"Why'd you think that?" He asked placing the cap back on the bottle.

"Well it's just that, I've read the Twilight Saga and Edward didn't like human food." I said. He and Taeler looked at each other before laughing at me.

"Sweetie, Edward Cullen and all those other vampires ain't got shit on my Jeff." Taeler laughed.

"I can eat whatever I want. So can any other vampire." He told me.

"I didn't know that." I said.

"We may be undead, but we're still humans in a way. We're just...altered by magic." He said.

"Ouh speaking of magic, did you tell her about the academy yet?" Taeler asked him.

"I was getting to it. Eventually." He shrugged.

"Ugh yea right. Don't worry. I'll show her the academy while we're out shopping today."

"The academy?" I asked.

"Yes. You have so much to learn."

…...

Taeler and I did quite a bit of shopping. I got lots of cute clothes and such. I was actually having a good time with her. She told me a lot. More than I could handle for one day. I found out that she too was a warlock. I never knew there could be female warlocks. I never knew a lot before today. My life went from normal to beyond outrageous in less than two days. Jeff was right about her. She was extremely friendly and a little weird, but it felt comfortable. She loved talking for sure. She always had so much to say.

"So." She said turning the radio down. "How do you like the house?"

"It's beautiful. Really." I said honestly.

"How about Jeff? He was nice to you wasn't he?" She asked frowning.

"He was. He gave me a tour of the place. He also gave me this." I said showing her the bracelet. She took a quick glance at it and smirked putting her eyes back on the road.

"Oh. I see he's already given you her magic." She said.

"So you know about Valkyrie too?" I asked her.

"Yes. Valkyrie and Rowan are legends in the magical world. They're like the Warlock King and the Witch Queen, because well she was deemed a witch." She told me.

"It's sad what happened to them." I said.

"Yea, but hey, it's life."

"So where are we going?" I asked.

"Mystic Academy." She said.

"Why exactly do I need to know about Mystic Academy?" I asked her.

"Because you'll be attending that school. The teachers there will teach you all about magic and your powers and how exactly to use them."

"Oh..okay I guess. How long do I have to stay there?"

"Until you're sponsor feels you've mastered everything you need to know."

"Who's my sponsor?" I asked her.

"Jeff."

…...

Mystic Academy was crawling with others like them. Like us. Newborn vampires. Warlocks in training. Witches. Shape shifters. Almost every magical being you can think of. They all looked like normal people though. Some more beautiful and handsome than others, but still normal. I saw the throne room and the classrooms. It was magnificent. The academy was simply a place where they could all be themselves and not be judged.

Taeler and I went back to the house later on and she left me to myself. I decided I'd start putting away my new stuff. Then maybe I'd figure out how I wanted to decorate my room. But all I could do right now was think of how my life was going to be from now on. At first it seemed like one big freak show, but truth be told, I was interested now. I was liking what I was seeing. Maybe I made the right decision after all.

…...

"Jeff?" I heard Taeler say.

"What?" I asked sipping on my drink. I heard her close the door to the theater room and I waited for her to say something.

"I think she's enjoying it here." She whispered with a wide grin spreading across her face.

"Ya think?" I asked sarcastically. "Relax Tae, I know what I'm doing. I've made women fall in love with me plenty of times before. She's nothing different." I said.

"But she is!" Taeler objected plopping down on the couch next to me. "She's more fragile than all those other whores that you call women. She's been through a lot and she doesn't exactly trust men anymore. You're lucky she even let you that close to her."

"I hear you and your point is well taken." I sighed.

"You're not taking this seriously." She pouted.

"Taeler, if I act too nice she's going to know something's up. I'm practically a murderer for crying out loud, how nice do you expect me to be?"

"I hear you and your point is well taken." She said agreeing with me.

"Look, tomorrow I'll try and get a little closer to her. We have six months for her to warm up to me, I'm pretty sure I can make this work." We sat quietly for a while before Taeler sat up and sniffed the air.

"Do you smell that glorious scent that's filling my nostrils?" She said wide-eyed.

"She's cooking." I answered concentrating on the movie.

"What's she cooking?!" She asked.

"Taeler I'm trying to watch a movie." I said.

"Just tell me." She growled. I let out a heavy sigh and rolled my eyes.

"She's cooking what smells like..crab."

"Yum! Let's go see!" She said. I paused the movie and left with her. Mainly because I was curious. We walked up the steps and into the kitchen. She was just finishing setting the table when we walked in. The food did look tempting. It smelled pretty good, but the main attraction was her. She was so beautiful. Her long black hair fell around her face in waves and she looked so innocent. Innocence was a turn on. It made you wonder how bad you could make them.

"I uh, I cooked you guys dinner. To say thank you for everything you've done for me so far." She said.

"Oh wow you're welcome." Taeler said hovering over a plate. "What is it?" She asked.

"It's Tempura soft-shell crab with Asian slaw." She said.

"Never once heard of it, but it looks and smells awesome so I'll eat it." Taeler sat at the table and began eating the exotic food.

"I hope you don't mind me cooking in your house." She said.

"Nah, it's all good. As far as I'm concerned, you can do whatever you want."

"Thank you."

"No. Thank you." I told her. She didn't know what I meant yet, but in due time, she would.

**A/N Alright guys, this chapter might be sappy, but that's because I'm explaining everything. Life will seem normal everything will get on track pretty soon just hang in there. R&R :D**


	4. Meeting Lucas

Turning Tables

Disclaimer: We all know that I am not lucky enough to own Jeff Hardy or anyone else..just Xerxes and the OC(s).

Chapter 4: Meeting Lucas

…...

"So Jeff, why didn't you tell me about your little friend here?" The woman asked. Tonight was extremely awkward. Some of Jeff's wrestling friends had come over to chill and what not. It confused me a little him being a professional wrestler, but he said he something about a balance of nature and what not. I was all for it at first, I even made dinner and desserts for them all...then I met Valerie Wyndham. I will admit, she was a beautiful woman. She seemed very sophisticated, but she was just really mean. Mostly to me. It seemed like every time I was bonding with Jeff, she'd come along and steal him away. Which really sucked, because as time was progressing I was realizing that I indeed had a crush on Jeff Hardy. And a big one it was.

"I didn't know I had to tell you Val." He said raising an eyebrow to her.

"Well I just think it's a little rude that Taeler gets to meet her and I have to find out about her by actually coming all the way to North Carolina. Just seems a little ridiculous."

"Does anyone want anymore desserts?" I asked trying to ease the tension in the room.

"Oh hell yes." James Curtin said. "How did you make these!?" He asked.

"Well thank you for the enthusiasm spud!" I laughed getting up from the bar and walking over to the stove.

"It's all in my cookbook." I told him.

"Could you teach me how to cook Eizelle?" He asked with wide eyes.

"Sure I guess. It'd be fun." I smiled.

"You and I, are gonna be close shit man." He laughed. "Hey what's your number by the way?" I handed him two more homemade almond joy bars and then pursed my lips thinking.

"I don't have a cell phone." I said cocking my head to the side.

"What? Jeff she doesn't have a cell phone?" Spud asked.

"Actually." Jeff started. "She does. She just doesn't know her number or know that she has one."

"You got me a cell phone?" I asked trying to keep my smile to a minimum.

"Yup. I figured you'd need it to keep in touch with me in case anything ever happened. It's sitting on your bed."

"Someone deserves a hug!" I cheered walking over to him with wide extended arms. It took me fourteen years to get a cell phone from my mom and one week to get one from Jeff. Pretty cool. I wrapped my arms around him and kissed his cheek gently.

"Thank you Jeff."

"No problem Xerx." He smiled.

"So let's get this straight, you're letting this girl stay in your newly renovated basement, which you are letting her decorate and design however she wants, you've spent probably somewhere close to $2000 on her and apparently she shows her grace with kisses? Wonder what she's gonna do for you when you start buying her jewelry." Val huffed.

"Woah. Valerie I think you're overreacting a little." Taryn said in my defense.

"I'm just voicing my opinions, if you don't like it then don't listen." Val said.

"Are you calling me a prostitute?" I asked the woman.

"If the shoe fits." She smiled.

"How dare you-"

"Valerie can I talk to you downstairs for a minute?" Jeff asked her. The two of them left the table together and went down the steps.

"Are you okay Eizelle?" Spud asked me. I was trying to fight back the tears that stung my eyes. I wasn't upset, I was primarily mad. How the hell could she say that to me? I was not a prostitute! I haven't even slept with Jeff yet.

"Oh my gosh." I whispered.

"What?" Taryn asked. I looked up realizing that I said that aloud and immediately felt embarrassed.

"Nothing. It...it was nothing."

…...

"Valerie what the hell are you doing!?" I yelled at her in a hushed tone.

"No, what the hell are you doing!?" She yelled back.

"Val you are not my girlfriend alright?" I sighed.

"Well neither she is, but you're still treating her like she's more important even though you've known me longer." She pouted.

"I made a mistake with you. How many times do you have to hear that before you believe it?" I asked her.

"We made love, not mistakes. I won't ever believe that." She said fingering my chest. I moved her hand away from me looked her dead on.

"Valerie. Listen to me, stay away from me and away from Xerxes. If you ruin my plans with her, I swear I'll have your head."

"What's your plans?" She asked hesitantly.

"Stay away." I repeated.

"I'll do whatever you want me to." She smirked.

"Knock knock." Someone said. We both looked towards the door.

"Xerxes." I said. She stood there staring at the two of us. "What's up?"

"Nothing." She said. "It's-Spud and Taryn, they were leaving. They just wanted to say goodnight." I nodded to her and moved away from Val. She winked at me once before walking out bumping Xerxes along the way.

"Aren't you going with her to say bye?" She asked.

"I'll call." I said. Now I had to mend what Valerie fucked up. "C'mere." She walked slowly over to me and I hugged her gently.

"Can we talk about it?" She asked me.

"You're not a prostitute. I buy you these things because I know you need these things. When you find a job or whatever you can buy all your own stuff, but for right now I'm gonna take care of you." I told her.

"Jeff. What if...what if I said I wanted you to take care of me in other ways." She said. I looked at her trying to make sure I'd just heard this right. I'm pretty sure I had.

"If you really need it." I smiled.

…...

Jeff hovered over Xerxes looking at her beneath them. Her naked body looked so good. He'd never felt so pleased with a woman. Her innocence. He was bent on taking it from her. Turning her into his personal little play toy.

"God Xerxes." He growled thrusting deeper into her. Her moans grew louder as his thrusts became more and more urgent as she called out his name in ecstasy. Something felt weird though. He felt as if he was at a loss of breath. It was weird because he didn't need to breathe so him being tired just didn't make sense. Simply explains how good she was.

"Deeper, please go deeper." She whimpered begging him. He tossed his hair back out of his eyes and placed one of her smooth legs over his shoulder sliding deeper inside her. Her hands moved in frantic motions from his chest, to the sheets on her bed, to her breast squeezing her nipples as she came for him. He pushed in and pulled out a few more times spraying his load inside her.

He slid out of her hole and collapsed on the bed next to her. He could hear her panting next to him as she tried to catch her breath. He really couldn't believe it'd been this easy to bed her. Maybe she was more of a whore than she let on.

"Th-that was amazing." She said resting her head on his chest.

"It'll be even better the next time." I smirked. Yes, there would definitely be a next time.

"How much better does it get?" She asked me.

"Doll, imagine your favorite thing to do in the whole entire world and then multiply that times one billion." I told her. A moment of silence.

"Wow." She breathed. "That's so awesome."

…...

I woke up early the next morning to shower and start on breakfast. The one thing I wasn't looking forward to were those damn stairs. I showered and dressed and made my way up to the kitchen where I found Taeler. She was drinking some coffee and she looked quite relaxed.

"Hey you." She smiled.

"Hey Taeler." I greeted. "Have you seen Jeff?" I asked. He wasn't in the room this morning when I woke up. Kind of upsetting.

"Oh his step mother wanted to talk to him about something, but we can worry about that later. Right now we have to get going." She said setting her mug down.

"Where are we going?" I asked her confused.

"The academy bub. It's your first day!" She cheered.

"What? I-I don't have any supplies." I said. She pulled out a cute backpack full of supplies.

"Okay then. I guess I am ready." I said.

"Great let's go." Taeler walked over to me and handed me the backpack before linking arms with me and then we were off.

…...

"So Jeff, have you started looking for your future wife?" Laura asked.

"Actually yes I have." I admitted. "I think I found a girl to go steady with."

"Really?" My father asked. "Why don't I believe you?" He asked narrowing his eyes at me.

"Ask me anything you want and I can tell you." I told him.

"What's her whole name?" Laura asked.

"Xerxes Eizelle Wellington." I answered.

"What's she look like?" My dad asked.

"She's black and Italian. 5"2'. Long dark wavy hair. Silver eyes. Dimples." I said.

"Well that's nice and all, but I was referring to her assets." He said honestly.

"Troen!" Laura gasped.

"What? I just have a feeling there's a reason this is actually happening." He shrugged.

"She's a C-cup. Nice ass. Not too big, but not too small. It's firm, but not too firm, like if she wanted to become a twerker, she'd be the all-star of twerking. Taeler's words, not mine." I said.

"You two are impossible." Laura hissed.

"Why does her name sound so familiar?" My dad asked next.

"Now here comes the part where I tell you that I did something that I really shouldn't have done." I started.

"I knew it was something." He sighed.

"Her name sounds familiar because she's the girl that was killed about two weeks ago and it was all over the news. I revived her." I told them.

"Why? Why the hell would you do that?" My dad asked angrily.

"This is your fault." I snapped. "You told me to find a wife and I did! After I get my crown she can go back to wandering around the earth."

"You are so cruel." Laura muttered.

"It's not cruel, it's a plan of action. She's getting something out of it anyways so everyone's happy."

"You seem to be forgetting one thing." Laura said. "A mere mortal can't take the thrown with you."

"Actually, I've got that covered too. She's got the best magic that a woman could have." I smirked. My father stared at me blankly putting the pieces together in his mind before rubbing his beard and raising his eyebrows.

"Valkyrie?" I nodded. "How does Rowan feel about this?"

"I could care less how he feels. He's put me through hell for decades now, if I choose to throw his girlfriend's magic off on some inexperienced woman than so be it."

"Your an evil person Jeff." My father sighed.

"Maybe this wouldn't be happening if y'all weren't being so strict."

"Yea...maybe."

…...

"Okay, so here is your schedule, you'll need this to navigate your way through school and here is your school ID and your locker key." The woman said. Wow, the academy really was like a normal school only slightly better. No memorizing locker combinations for me!

"Thank you." I said accepting the items.

"Alright, so you have everything you need now material wise. All I have to left to assign you are your sponsors." She said.

"Sponsors?" I asked. I was already aware of the fact that Jeff would be my sponsor, but I didn't know I'd need more than one.

"Yes. It's plural. You will have a student sponsor and a graduate sponsor. You'll mainly be learning everything with your student sponsor who will be a senior in the program. They'll teach you all you need to know and when they feel you've mastered it all, they will take you to the graduate sponsor for his review and it's left to them from there." She explained.

"I was told one of my sponsors would be Jeff Hardy." I told her.

"Correct. Your student sponsor however will be Lucas McIntosh." She said. Now I was curious to know who this Lucas person was. What if I didn't like him? What if I did like him? No, there would be no liking him. I was too far in it with Jeff.

"When will I meet him?" I asked.

"As soon as you leave my office." She said. She stared quietly at me with a slight smile on her face. I took the hint that she was throwing and gathered my things quickly leaving the office. I stood outside the door looking up and down the empty hallways. I didn't see any Lucas.

"Great." I muttered. I walked slowly ahead of me, while reading my schedule. You could say it was pretty cliche, but I wasn't paying attention and I ran into someone. I looked up embarrassed with myself.

"Oh my gosh! I am so sorry." I said. The man chuckled at me with his hand over his chest.

"It's no problem." He said. He had a cute smile and beautiful topaz eyes. His hair was short and black and his skin was pale.

"Are you..Lucas?" I asked.

"Only if you're Xerxes." He smirked.

"Well indeed I am." I laughed.

"Nice to meet you." He said extending his hand to me. "It's a pleasure to be your sponsor my lady."

"You're so kind." I said.

"Well my parents practice lots and lots of mannerism in our house." He told me. "Mind if I see your schedule?"

"Sure." I said handing him the slip of paper.

"First period you have Mythological History, second period is Fundamentals of Physics, third period is Nutrition and Health, and fourth is the best class of them all Foundations of Magic." He said.

"What do you do in those classes?" I asked him as we started to walk down the halls.

"Well in mythological history, you pretty much learn the history and culture of different types of magical beings, fundamentals is actually like a physical education class. It's mostly for vampires though, they're learning how to use a natural strength and speed for blending in with the rest of society. Nutrition and Health is basically a course on the obvious. Food. Another main course for vamps. Finally, foundations of magic teaches everyone the basics of how to use their magic." He explained.

"Wow. It all seems pretty fun." I said.

"Yea it is." He stopped in front of a classroom door and smiled at me once more. "Well this is your stop. Third period. Your teacher's name is Mr. Keinz. He's pretty chill. You'll love him. If you need anything just say the name 'Ryker' and I'll be here in a flash." He told me.

"Okay, I think I can do that. Thanks again."

"My pleasure. Good luck gorgeous." I smiled at him one last time before he sped off back to his class. So I had a problem now. Lucas was cute and sweet and I had to spend almost all of my time in school with him. Great. Well, it was time to meet Mr. Keinz.

…...

**A/N** Okay, this ends chapter four. Jeff's evil intentions for Xerxes are becoming more clear now. Bad Jeffrey! You've also now met Lucas, who is Jeff's younger step-brother. I will update more hopefully tomorrow, no promises! Also a big thank you to the first two reviewers, Wolfgirl77769 and shiki94. Thanks so much for the reviews guys!


	5. Too Soon

Turning Tables

Disclaimer: We all know that I am not lucky enough to own Jeff Hardy or anyone else..just Xerxes and the OC(s).

**A/N** Warning! Extreme Sexual Content ;D

Chapter 5: Too Soon

…...

"So where do you live Xerxes?" I asked her.

"Um..in a really big house." She laughed. "I'm sorry, I don't know the address, I just know that it's the most beautiful house I've ever lived in." We were sitting inside an ice cream shop on te academy campus after school. Her books were scattered on the table open around her. She was sitting on the bench enjoying her french vanilla ice cream while I watched her. She was so angelic like. Everything she said sounded like words of an angel. Her laugh sounded like wind chimes. Her smile shined like ray beams from the sun. She was so perfect.

"Lucas?" She called. "You still there?" She asked.

"Yea." I said pulling myself back into reality. I had to stop drifting in and out on her.

"So uh, tell me about this house? You live in it by yourself?" I asked her.

"Well no actually I don't." She said tucking some hair behind her ears. "I like there with this guy...and this girl...sorta. I'm like a house guest." She told me.

"They sound pretty generous."

"Yea they really are. They've done so much for me. Like you really have no idea. The guy, he had a basement right? Well he was renovating it into a loft bedroom. It's totally my bedroom now. It's so amazing. It's not finished, but he's almost done. A few more installations and I'll be all set. He just painted the walls for me a few days ago and then we went to uhh...hobby lobby, that's the place, you know how they sell those wall decors?" She asked.

"The canvas one's?" I asked. She nodded her head enthusiastically.

"Yes, I got tons of those. I've decided I'm going to make a wall full of 'Keep Calm..' stuff. It looks good so far." She smiled.

"Wow it sounds pretty cool in there." I said.

"...Do you wanna see it?" She asked. Holy crap it's like a miracle was happening. She was inviting me to her room.

"Sure." I said.

"Great, but first I want you to teach me something." She said.

"And what's that?"

"How do I fucking blink!?" She asked me. I couldn't help but to chuckle at her, she was so adorable.

"Well I'm not exactly sure if you can blink seeing as though that power has become mostly associated with warlocks." I told her.

"How can you tell if I can or not?" She asked. "Will this help?" She pulled off her hoodie and for the first time I noticed the jewelry resting on her left hand. This was impossible. There was only person who knew where this jewel was and only one person who could touch it. He hated me and I didn't care so much for him either.

"Wow." I said taking her hand in mine. "You have Valkyrie's amulet."

"Yep. I've heard she's pretty damn special. I was also told that she was deemed a witch." She said.

"Yes she was, but she was given her magic by her warlock lover. She was also deemed a with because back then it was uncommon to have a female warlock. Now people know that the true meaning of a warlock is an oath breaker. Doesn't have a specific gender attached to it." I explained.

"So does this mean I can blink?" She asked.

"It should."

"I tried it once by myself, but I felt stupid and I was getting a headache." She sighed.

"You were over thinking it." I laughed. "First, let's pack all your stuff up just in case." She nodded and began putting her books in her backpack and then slinging it on her back. I placed my hand palm up on the table and she laid hers in mine.

"Okay now just close your eyes and relax." I spoke to her softly while she did as I told her. I could feel her body relax slowly.

"Breathe and just tell yourself that you want to be home. You want to be in your bedroom or on your porch. Just in your house period." I said. For a minute it didn't seem like it would work, but before I knew it she'd done it. She brought us to the house I least wanted to ever be inside of.

"Open your eyes Xerxes." I said quietly. She did as I said and her face lit up with excitement.

"I did it! That was so much easier than I expected!" She cheered.

"Nice job for a first timer." I smiled.

"So you blink too huh?" She asked.

"No. He doesn't blink, he's just a little half breed vampire. He can barely climb trees." I heard. I let out a deep sigh and rolled my eyes.

"Oh hey Jeff." She smiled walking over to him. I watched in agony as he hugged and kissed her and then smirked devilishly at me.

"What are you doing here Lucas? You know you're not invited here." He spat.

"Relax. I didn't know I was coming here until we arrived." I said.

"You two know each other?" She asked.

"He's my big brother." I informed her.

"_Step_-brother." Jeff said.

"I didn't know you had a brother." She said to him.

"I kind of didn't want you to." He said.

"Oh well, you two are my sponsors." She smiled. "Isn't this cool?"

"I'm not going to lie. I'm not completely thrilled." He said staring at me.

"Nothing I can do about it. Guess you'll just have to deal with." I smirked.

"We'll see about that." He said. So I guess I was a little scared right now. Jeff was a scary person when it came down to it. He's been at this life a lot longer than I have. He's done things that are unheard of anymore. He grew up with Troen for not just part of his childhood, but all of it. I had a pretty damn good reason to fear my brother. My question now was why was she with him? Didn't she know that he was an asshole?

"Can he stay for dinner Jeff?" She asked.

"Hmm I don't think so. I had plans for us tonight." He said as his hands slid down her sides.

"Oh well, sorry Lucas." She said to me.

"It's alright Xerxes. I should probably get going anyways. I'll see you tomorrow. You have my number if you need anything." I told her. She nodded at me and then I turned my attention to Jeff.

"Help me out of here?" I asked.

"My pleasure." He said and then he sent me away.

…...

"I take it you two don't like each other?" I asked him.

"You take right." He said moving away from me.

"Well...why not?" I asked.

"Why? I just don't." He said. "Why do you ask so many questions?" He smiled.

"No one can have a logical conversation without either person asking questions." I said. Jeff grabbed a soda from the refrigerator, twisted the cap off and took sip looking at me as he did. He walked slowly over to me and then around me. He seemed to be analyzing me for something.

"You like him...don't you?" He asked.

"What? Why would you ask something like that?" I said.

"It wasn't a question. It was a statement. I know you like him." He said. Correction then, I thought he asked.

"No. I don't like Lucas." I fibbed. I smiled at him as I placed my hands on his cheeks and reached on my tippy toes to kiss his lips. "I'm too busy liking you." I added.

"It better stay that way too." He muttered. He kissed me back wrapping his strong arms around my waist picking me up.

"Don't worry." I said in between kisses. "It will."

…...

"Jeff? Are you here?" I called. I ran up the steps and dashed towards his bedroom knocking loudly on the door. I knew he could me wherever the hell he was, so this was me just stressing the urgency. The door opened to where I could only see his face and he glared at me from the other side.

"Are you dying?" He asked quietly.

"No, but this is really important. You're ass out aren't you?" I responded quickly.

"I'm busy. It can wait." He said. I peeked by him and I could see _his _urgency. Xerxes was lying on her stomach watching us converse. The only thing covering her was a thin blanket that was draped across her ass. Like something you saw in a magazine. She was actually pretty astonishing and nice looking.

"Are you sleeping with her?" I said asking the obvious.

"Not much sleeping is getting done so no. But I am fucking her."

"Your sarcasm is annoying." I said with a roll of my eyes.

"Taeler can you please hurry up?" He ushered.

"Oh yea yea yea right! Jeff I can't do this anymore." I sighed.

"Are you talking about what I think you're talking about?" He asked narrowing his eyes at me.

"I'm sorry Jeff, I really am, I just feel so wrong. She's a really sweet girl, she really is. I don't want to hurt her. I think you should stop too. She doesn't deserve this. If you want to continue a relationship with her that's fine and all, but just don't use her." I begged.

"Taeler. Conrad. Mellen. I can't believe this. How are you going to back out now? We're just getting started." He said.

"Look, we'll talk about this later when your dick isn't hard and pussy isn't mewing. Kind of a turn on and well I just can't focus when I'm like that." I nodded.

"Why again do I put up with you?" He asked me.

"Because you love me. Now think about what you're doing and then decide. I'll talk to you later." He looked at Xerxes on the bed and then back at me before winking and shutting the door. If he could stop being so shallow long enough to realize he's making a terrible mistake.

…...

"What was that all about?" Xerxes asked me as I made my way back over to her.

"Nothing to be concerned about." I told her. "Now, turn your pretty ass around for me." She smiled seductively at me and giggled turning around displaying her perfect round butt for me. I knelt on the bed behind her grabbing at the flesh squeezing and smacking it. Before Taeler had rudely interrupted me with her whining I was planning on exploring this girls other holes. One by one day by day. Today she was going to experience any man's personal favorite, anal.

I slid one finger into her tight hole then entered another one after getting a good response. I began to spread her into a fine gape that could take this cock. I'd never seen a more responsive woman. She loved what I was doing to her; it seemed there was nothing she wouldn't take. As I felt her ass soften to take my fingers, my cock almost burst. She was a true whore, of the special kind that was made for cum to be spilled into her whenever the desire took a man.

I pulled my fingers out of her. She'd leaned down further onto the bed resting her head on her arm as the sensations took over. Fuck I needed her.

I moved my hand forward to her wetness and rubbed small circles on her clit. She moaned and arched her back at my touch.

Without any warning, I plunged it into her pussy, letting the heat and the wetness take me over. She cried out, but it was a cry of shear pleasure.

After a few strokes inside her irresistible cunt, I pulled out of her and moved my dick back to her ass.

I inched myself inside of the tight pucker before moving my hands to her waist and dragging her body back onto me for easier access.

Xerxes was such a good little girl. She took this assault with ease. There was no bitching and complaining. Just the sweet sounds of her loud moans and the smacking of flesh. I started to slam into her harder as she threw her head back and spoke words of ecstasy. I watched the girl reach for her hot nub and begin to strum her fingers over it. She pushed back hard against me craving more. I moaned out loud and delivered a hard smack to her ass. I was going to lose my ever loving mind with this woman. Our movements slowed as I spilled inside of her. I pulled my now limp dick out of her and watched her fall to the mattress and pass out instantly. I definitely wasn't quitting anytime soon.

…...

I couldn't stop thinking about Jeff. He was all that was on my mind lately. The way he made me feel. It was incredible. I did things for him that I'd never dreamed of doing for any man. I _wanted_ to do things for him that I'd never dreamed of doing for any man. He lit a certain fire inside of me and I simply couldn't get enough. I never thought I'd be able to trust another man like this, but Jeff was different. I'd trust him with my life.

"Hello? Xerxes, are you still there?" I snapped out my day dream and looked back up at Lucas. He sat across the table from me. We were supposed to be studying for my test tomorrow, but it was hard to concentrate. Why was I even having a test this soon anyways?

"Yea, sorry. I was just um-"

"Thinking about him again?" He said finishing my sentence.

"Sorry. I just, it's a lot to think about you know?" I smiled.

"Not really and nor do I want to." He said looking back at his textbook.

"Ya know Lucas, you're jealousy is kind of cute." I told him. He looked up at me a little and shook his head.

"I'm not jealous. I just think it's gross that you're gushing about Jeff in ways that only you and God knows." He scoffed.

"Sure. If that's your excuse." I giggled.

"Ya know maybe I should go." He said suddenly.

"What? Why?" I asked confused as I watched him stand and pack his books.

"You know Jeff doesn't like me, I don't wanna be here when he gets home." He said.

"He's going to know that you were here Lucas, he can smell your scent. Besides, you're my tutor or sponsor of whatever. Jeff is going to have to accept the fact that you're going to be around a little more." I told him.

"Yea well, maybe tomorrow, right now I just need to go."

"Aw? Leaving so soon?" I turned around and saw the man of my wildest dreams.

"Funny how you always pop in at the right time." Lucas said.

"Yea. Funny." Jeff said as I made my way over to him happily. I reached up and kissed his cheek

and smeared the lip gloss with my finger.

"Can someone please send me home?" Lucas asked as Jeff and I stared at each other. Jeff's hands gripped my waist tightly.

"Don't." I whispered when I saw him take a quick glance at Lucas.

"What?" He smirked. "I can't kiss you anymore?" He leaned down then and kissed me roughly. My mouth wasn't just melting, my whole face was melting and it felt so good. His lips moved from mine and to my neck.

"Jeff." I breathed taking this opportunity to try and talk some kindness into him. He wove his hands in my hair holding me in place.

"I think we need some alone time." He whispered in my ear.

"I think I need a barf bag." Lucas said with a hint of hardness in his voice. Jeff looked away and played an innocent card with his little brother.

"Oh, right. Sorry little bro. Got a little carried away." He said redirecting his eyes back to me. "She's just so damn sexy." He added with a sharp slap on bum.

"Yea I can see you got carried away. If you don't mind, I have a lot of things to do." He said.

"Right. Have a great day." Jeff said finally granting Lucas his wish. I pulled away from him and folded my arms over my chest.

"Why would you do that? You know he has a crush on me." I chided.

"Oh look you just answered your own question." He said smiling.

"Why are you such an asshole to him? Lucas is a great guy Jeff, he hasn't done anything to you." I said turning away from him.

"It's a personal thing, something that doesn't concern you." He said.

"Doesn't concern me?" I asked lightly. I will admit I felt a little hurt by those words. "Am I not worthy of your personal life?" I asked.

"Never said that." He said walking in the direction of his bedroom. I followed him and sat down on the comfy bed. I watched as he pulled out a duffel bag and began tossing clothes in them.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Packing." He said.

"For?"

"I'm going back on the road. I do have a job ya know." He said.

"But, I thought you were taking a vacation?" I asked.

"I was. I did. Now I'm going back." He told me.

"Oh." I said a little more hurt.

"Don't sound like that." He said. "I'll be back before ya know it. Maybe next time...you can go with me." He said.

"Really?" I smiled.

"Yes. Really." He moved from his duffel bag for a quick moment and kissed me before going back to what he was doing.

"Can I tell you something?" I said falling back on the bed.

"I don't know can you?" He joked.

"Smart ass." I said rolling my eyes. "Anyways, I just wanted to say that...I love you." I confessed.

"I'm sorry repeat that?" He said looking at me immediately. I crawled over to him and wrapped my arms around his neck.

"I said, I love you." I repeated stroking his hair. "Jeff, you've changed my whole entire life for the better and I will never be able to thank you enough for that. You are everything I've ever dreamed of. Beautiful, sweet, generous and trustworthy." I smiled.

"Really?" He asked.

"Yes." I nodded. "I need you in my life Jeff Hardy. I don't know what I'd do without you."

"Xerxes...look." He said removing my arms from around him. "You're a great catch and all, but I don't feel the same way that you feel about me. I think you're the most beautiful woman I've ever laid eyes on. The sweetest woman I've ever tasted. The most innocent and pure woman I've ever been with, but it takes more than a few fucks and kisses ya know?" And there it was. My first really upsetting moment in our relationship. I spilled my heart out and he didn't feel the same. I felt so stupid. He was right. It was dumb to be in love this soon. I'd have to relax. I could do this.

"Yea, I get it. I'm sorry, it was stupid of me." I said.

"You can't help your feelings. Besides, I'm irresistible." He joked. I rolled my eyes at his conceited joke and stepped down to the floor.

"Lucas is a pretty good teacher by the way and since he's my sponsor I am inviting him over here to help me whenever I feel like." I told him and then I blinked out of the room.


	6. Ideas

Turning Tables

Disclaimer: We all know that I am not lucky enough to own Jeff Hardy or anyone else..just Xerxes and the OC(s).

Chapter 6: Ideas

…...

Jeff had left for the road two days ago and I'd spent the majority of those two days with Lucas, but today I was on my own in city wandering about on the streets looking for a job and a good time. The house was beautiful, but it was empty and lonely, the academy was fascinating, but I only really had Lucas as a friend. So I'd decided it was time to venture. I'd never been to North Carolina before, and it was kind of dull like people often said, but it was a pretty small town.

I stared up at a little building with a 'For Sale' sign in it. It was a nice place. It looked like it used to be a bakery shop. I peered in through the window and tried seeing inside. Of course it was too dark which didn't help.

"Excuse me miss?" I turned away from the mirror and looked at the lady who was speaking to me. I slowly straightened out and stared at her with a blank expression. Was this real? Was I really seeing this?

"Hello." She greeted. "My name is Mrs. Stabler..would you like to see inside the shop?" She asked. I didn't respond to her immediately. I needed a minute to figure this out. Obviously she didn't know me, but what was she doing here? Then I remembered. Tania and her family were supposed to move out to North Carolina two years ago, but her dad decided he couldn't take his daughter away from her only friend. She didn't have me now, so I'm guessing they had no reason to stay.

"Sure." I said finally finding my voice. "Are you some kind of business retailer?" I asked as she moved to unlock the door.

"Oh no actually this is my shop. I've been trying to sell it for a few months now." She smiled. She opened the door and flicked the lights on and we both walked inside. It was okay on the inside. Needed a little reconstruction, but I could see myself working in here. Possibly owning this place. I'd always wanted to be a chef. Cooking was my passion.

"Why are you selling?" I asked.

"Um, my family, we've fallen on hard times and we can't afford to keep it." She admitted.

"Oh. I'm sorry." I lied. "Do you have any kids?"

"Just one girl. Tania. She's graduating high school this year. She's beautiful. You know, you look like you're the same age as her." She said narrowing her eyes.

"I'm twenty-one." I lied again. "Young looks run in my family." Well that part wasn't a lie.

"Oh, you're really small for a twenty-one year old." She said.

"Shortness is another family trait." I said faking a smile for her. "How much do you want this place for?"

"Well it's 1,670 square feet. Seats 42 people. Could be renovated for a restaurant and this is a pretty active part of town so I'm trying to get at least 40 grand for it." She said. I continued doting around the place thinking. It was bigger on the inside than it looked from the outside. Seating of 42 sounded good. The price wasn't that bad for the location and it wasn't too far out from the house.

"Do you have any other potential buyers?" I asked next.

"A few." She nodded.

"What if, I can guarantee you the money two weeks?" I proposed.

"Well then, I'd say we have a deal." She smiled.

"Good." I nodded. We shook hands and then we both left the building.

"I'll get a contract drawn up for us and I guess I'll see you again in two weeks!" She laughed happily.

"Guess so." I agreed.

"Oh, I didn't seem to catch your name." She said. I took a deep breath and let it out with a smile.

"Xerxes. Xerxes Wellington."

…...

"So, you made a deal with a woman to have 40 thousand dollars in two weeks so that you could buy a bakery shop?" He asked.

"Yes Lucas, for the umpteenth time, yes that's what happened." I sighed.

"I just don't see how you're going to pull this off. No offense, but it would've been easier to just ask Jeff for the money." He said shaking his head.

"I didn't want to." I frowned. "I'm tired of depending on him, it's not fair for him to support the both of us. I need to start pulling my own weight." I said. I flopped down on my bed and continued searching some good fund raiser ideas on my phone.

"You make it sound like you two are married." He said sitting on the edge of my bed.

"What about a marathon?" I asked ignoring his comment.

"People usually don't do marathons to help someone start a business." He said.

"But do you think it could work?" I pried.

"Possibly. You'd have to get fliers up. When do you need the money by?" He asked.

"Next Saturday." I said. "Do you think that will give people enough time to prepare?"

"It's worth a shot."

"Hey, what if I held the marathon for the Mystic Academy students and other magical beings?" I asked.

"Ya know, that's not actually a bad idea. Your odds are even better seeing as how magical beings are particularly more wealthy than mortals." He informed me.

"Why is that?" I wondered.

"Well, vampires live for centuries, they've enough time to let their money accumulate. Like my family. Warlocks sometimes accumulate their money other times they steal or inherit the riches of their victims. Witches would be like the middle class families and succubi are also with the wealthier category. Seeing as they're all mainly female demons, they gain their riches from being, well..sluts. Then they claim the life of their provider and move on to the next."

"Their the immortal gold diggers then?" I smirked.

"Exactly." He nodded.

"Lucas this is perfect! I'll start working on the fliers and then tomorrow we can get the deans permission." I exclaimed. I beckoned my laptop and started working up slogans and ideas for the fundraiser.

"Do you want me to stay or should I leave?" Lucas asked. I looked up at him from my laptop and shook my head.

"Actually, I need to talk to you about something." I said.

"What's up?" He asked. I sighed and moved the laptop off my lap. I scooted to the end of the bed til I was next to him and I cleared my throat.

"I'm sorry about a couple of days ago." I apologized. "I told him not to do that."

"I'm perfectly fine. I'm just wondering one thing." He told me.

"What's that?"

"Why did you let him treat you like that?" He asked.

"It's not like he was treating me badly." I frowned.

"Are you kidding me?" He scoffed. "Jeff treats you like your his sex puppet. And you know what I have no doubt in my mind that that's exactly what he thinks."

"Stop it." I said growing irritated.

"Look I get that you don't want to hear this shit, but it's true. I know Jeff a lot better than you do. He's my brother after all. I know the way he is with women. He doesn't trust them, not since Heidi he-"

"Heidi?" I interrupted. "Who's Heidi?"

"You..you don't know about Heidi?" He asked. I shook my head slowly.

"Shit." He muttered. "It's nothing." He said quickly. "I think I should go."

"No! Tell me!" I demanded. "Who is Heidi?"

"It's really not my place." He said walking towards the door.

"Yea well I'm making it your place." I said throwing myself in front of him. "Lucas please." He stared at me for a moment trying to think of another excuse why not to tell me before he gave up and sighed.

"Fine, but you didn't hear this from me."

"My lips are sealed." I nodded.

"Good." He swallowed a thick lump in his throat before letting out a shaky breath and he began telling me the story of Heidi.

"There once was a time when Jeff was actually a sweet guy. He was so soft hearted and nice. Least that's what Troen says. Anyways, he met this girl named Heidi. She was a beautiful warlock. Brunette, kind of tall, hazel eyes, and tan skin. Well he met her one night at a club and they became like the best of friends. She moved in with him. Her room is upstairs down the hall from Jeff's."

"Soon after she moved in of course they started dating and then they got engaged and the whole deal. Jeff did everything and anything for her. He was literally sprung. Troen tried telling him multiple times that Heidi was bad news. She was like a succubus. Sucking him dry of his happiness. Boy was blinded by love. When I was younger, I remember sitting on the pew watching Jeff. He looked ecstatic."

"He was just standing there at the alter waiting for his dreams to come, but..they never did. Instead he found out that she'd run off with some demon that she'd been involved with for the past two years."

"Seriously?" I asked. "I feel so bad for him." I frowned.

"Well, he got payback. After that, Jeff changed. He became cold and ruthless. Like he couldn't trust any one anymore. He started using women and just tossing them to the side. A couple years after the stand up Heidi came running back to him. Things weren't working out with her demon lover and she wanted Jeff back."

"Did he take that bitch back!?" I exclaimed. Wow, I was really into this story. It sounded like a magical lifetime story.

"Well..he killed her."

…...

I was sitting in my fundamentals class, not much was going on today so I was making some do it yourself jewelry for the marathon. I thought it'd be a good idea to have little booths set up around to sell some stuff for the non-active participants.

"Hey." I heard. I looked up from my work slowly and saw a tiny girl with brown hair in front of me. I recognized her. She was obviously in my fundamentals class, a class 1 vampire. She was shy and she stared at me a lot. I never thought she'd actually come talk to me.

"Hi." I said.

"Can I sit by you?" She asked.

"Um, sure I guess." I said. The small girl smiled and sat down next to me. She smoother out her pleated skirt and then fiddled with the hem of her skirt. She looked at me and smiled again.

"My name is Tessa." She said.

"Cool. My name is Xerxes." I said.

"That's so pretty. It's a lot better than my boring old common name." She giggled.

"Thanks, Tessa isn't that bad of a name. I like it. It fits you." I told her. Tessa had bright eyes the color of honey and skin that was so soft looking and clear. She was a pretty girl.

"Thank you. No one has ever said that to me." She said. "So what are you doing?"

"Oh I'm making some jewelry to sell at the marathon I'm hosting." I told her.

"You're hosting that?! I heard about it. It sounds like fun, I told my parents about it and they said they'd go." She smiled.

"Really? That's great." I nodded.

"Can I help?" She asked.

"Sure, that'd be great." Tessa was good with these types of projects apparently. She was very creative and her speed was extremely useful. She didn't talk much, but I was fine with that. I think in a way just having her here was good enough. It meant I was making another friend. And I really missed having those.

…...

"Hey Jeff!" Mark called. I stood and waited for him watching him tote my title over his shoulder. Storyline or not 2013 was supposed to be my year. How the fuck is it my year if I ain't in the spotlight? I tossed my cig down and ground it out before meeting face to face with the bully.

"What do you want?" I asked. "I'm kind of busy." I'd been here a whole week and it was time to jump ship back home and relax. Bury myself inside Xerxes and sleep.

"I wanted to know if you were up for some drinks tonight man? Kill some tension between us." He said.

"I don't think so. I have things to do." I lied.

"Oh c'mon man, it's just a few drinks you can fuck ya girl later." He smirked.

"Girl?" I questioned looking at him immediately.

"Jeff, it's obvious. You showed up here last week with a hickey, you leave the room when you get certain calls or text messages. The biggest clue of them all, Taeler told us you had a new friend." He said calmly.

"That woman..." I muttered.

"Relax man. C'mon, take a load off. Sit back and chug one." I stared at the man a few minutes before shrugging. I guess it wouldn't hurt.

…...

Holy fuck. It damn sure didn't hurt, it felt great. Too great. How would I hide sleeping with Taryn?

**A/N** Okay, I'm trying to update this story as much as possible because I won't be available for a bit. Do you guys think Xerxes will confront Jeff about Heidi or let it go, and what's up with her and Tessa? New friendship? Taryn and Jeff...hmm I smell trouble.


	7. A Change of Heart

Turning Tables

Disclaimer: We all know that I am not lucky enough to own Jeff Hardy or anyone else..just Xerxes and the OC(s).

Chapter 7: A Change of Heart

…...

I ditched the hotel early the next morning. Way earlier before Tayryn woke up. I'd deal with that problem later. I had a pretty long flight ahead of me. I knew I shouldn't have gone drinking. Nothing good ever comes of me drinking. I mean, Tayryn was good, but she was an interference with my plans. Maybe after I've got Xerxes' hand, but no sooner.

I was sitting in my seat on the plane listening to some music when I caught a glimpse of a pair of smooth tan legs next to me. I looked up and took in the image of this raven haired beauty who'd come to sit next to me. My luck was just too much.

"Hi." She laughed. "I'm Carsey. Looks like we're seat buddies." She said as I stood up to let her in.

"Jeff and yea looks like." I said. She moved into the seat and put her stuff in the overhead compartment before sitting down.

"So, how often do you guys have to fly?" She asked.

"What?" I asked her.

"Sorry, it's just, I saw you wrestle Thursday night. Plus who wouldn't recognize you? " She giggled.

"Thanks, I pretty much fly every other week. How long have you been a wrestling fan?" I asked her.

"Ugh, ever since I was a little girl. I'm 28 now. If it counts for anything, I'm so glad you went to TNA. WWE was and is still getting extremely overrated. It isn't even about the wrestling anymore over there." She said.

"It counts for a little bit." I smiled at her.

"So where ya headed?" She asked next.

"Back home thankfully." I said letting out a sigh of relief.

"Ohh. Back to a girlfriend I suppose?" I caught her hint and began thinking in my head. She was cute and she had a great body. Someone obviously wanted me to have these girls or they wouldn't keep throwing them at me. Plus, it'd be nice to sleep with someone who was experienced.

"Nope. Not going back to anyone worth while."

…...

I guess I really wasn't going back to anyone worth while. She looked...different. She'd cut all her beautiful hair off into a shorter style that touched her shoulders and that just seemed to do it. It was a lot more of a change that you'd think it be. Like when I cut my hair and I look like a legit redneck. She stood in front of me in a short little red dress that clung to her hips. It was low cut so her cleavage was exposed. Behind her the table was clothed in a white drape and embellished in plates with fancy foods and deserts. Wine glasses and bottles. The works.

"I'm so glad you're home." She smiled as she strode over to me. She reached up and kissed my lips softly before pulling away and stroking my cheek.

"I really missed you." She told me.

"I can tell." I told her. "Your hair. What did you do to it?"

"You don't like it?" She said with a sad expression.

"You look different...but still good. I just want to know why." I told her.

"Well new friend, new powers, new hair...new job." She cooed.

"Woah woah woah. Friend and job? I was only gone for a week." I said.

"Yea and can you believe all this happened in less than that? Her name is Tessa Malavo. She's white and Hispanic. She's really sweet and shy too. Oh and pretty, and creative and I really really like her. She's helping me make merchandise for my marathon at the academy that I'm hosting to raise money to buy the bakery downtown hence my new job." She said. I absorbed all this information bit by bit caring less and less.

"That's great. Glad you're fitting in and branching out."

"Thank you." She said giving me a quick peck. "Come on let's sit down. I made something so delicious for you." She said as we took our seats.

"What exactly is it?" I asked.

"Just something simple. Some salad, meats, vegetables, pudding. Chardonnay." She said.

"You aren't even legal to drink." I scoffed picking up the wine bottle.

"At Dusk Dinners I am. It's like you guys have your own separate universe. I love that store! It has tons of delicious stuff for my recipes. In your world I'm legal for anything! You just have no clue the busy week I've had." She exclaimed. Something was up with her. She seemed a little too excited. Surely my coming back wasn't this exciting?

"What's going on with you?" I asked.

"Nothing." She said shaking her head. "Can't I be happy for your return?"

"Well, with the conversation we had before I left I thought you'd be a little...pissy." I told her.

"I'll admit, I was hurt, but you were right. And you're right now, there is something going on. While you were gone I met someone." She admitted.

"You what?" I snapped. "What the hell do you mean you met someone!?"

"Wait wait, it's not like that!" She said in defense.

"Then what the hell is it like?" She tapped her fingers along the table and then folded her hands.

"I met your parents." She said. She waited a moment for me to respond and when I didn't she kept going. My hearing was in and out of the conversation. I was still trying to wrap my head around the fact that she met my parents. Laura. She met that woman.

"So anyways Lucas was all like 'You should come to my house this time and-" Of course it would've been Lucas' fault this happened.

"Your dad is cute. I see where you get your looks from. Laura, she's so beautiful. She said she'd heard lots about me too. I didn't know you talked about me with them."

"How did you come about meeting them again?" I asked.

"Lucas. He said I should come to his house and we were in the backyard practicing the usual and they came out looking for him and found me there too. It was really an accident."

"Yea, I bet it was. Look, Xerx I'm not really in the mood to eat. Thanks, but no thanks."

…...

"Hello welcome to the Mystic Library, how may I help you?" The woman spoke in a dull nasally voice while she smacked on a piece of tired gum. She had her white hair held up in a neat bun with decorative chopsticks. Bright red lipstick stained her lips that seemed to curl upward at me.

"Yes we were looking for a book of spells..for witches." Tessa said when I didn't answer.

"Do you have a library card?" She asked us turning in her chair to face us.

"No. This is my first time here." I told her.

"And you?" She said directing her attention to Tessa. Tessa opened her purse, pulled out her wallet, and flashed the woman her library card.

"Come with me." She said standing up out of her chair and walking from behind the oval desk. The woman wore a simple black pencil skirt and a white button up blouse with black pointy toe heels. The cliché librarians outfit. She was a tall slender woman. She waved me along with her bony finger and Tessa and I followed her. We wound up in the librarians office.

"Sit on that stool." She said pointing a to a red top stool. I moved slowly towards the little stool and sat down smoothing my dress out.

"You get three chances for your photo and that's it." She said. "Ready?" I nodded. I tried giving a happy smile, but I couldn't really muster one up. I was stressed. Jeff was treating me differently and I didn't like it. I'd latched onto him way too quickly and now I was starting to feel the bad side effects.

"Honey, no one smiles like that." Tessa said shaking her head.

"Sorry." I apologized.

"Picture two." The lady said. I couldn't help it though. I just wanted him so bad. Jeff was my real first time and it felt amazing. He was the most important thing I had in my life now. I loved him and it hurt knowing he didn't love me the same way.

"Xerxes, you're an extremely beautiful girl. You should be able to take thrilling pictures, but they're all coming out so bland." Tessa sighed.

"Get ready for the last picture." Tessa. Taeler. Lucas. So I'd made some nice friends in this life. If Jeff didn't love me at least I had them. And knowing that brought a real smile to my face. So I wasn't completely alone.

"Yep." Tess nodded. "That's the picture."

…...

"So why exactly are these cards so professional and important?" I asked Tessa while we were picking out some spell books.

"You wouldn't want mortals getting in here and seeing all this stuff would you? It's a very complex system." She said.

"What if I lose the card?" I asked.

"If you lose the card and it doesn't come back to you then you simply come here. They'll ask you questions about yourself and the stuff on the card. Like your element. Electricity. Your source of power. Valkyrie's Amulet. Your sponsor. Lucas and Jeff." She said pulling another book off the shelf.

"Why wouldn't the card come back?" I asked next.

"If you have overdue books the card won't come back until you turn them in or pay the fee." She said. We sat down at a table with our books and by the time I finished skimming one book Tessa had skimmed through at least fifteen. I decided I'd rather do this by myself at home where I can read embarrassingly slow by myself. I said my byes to Tessa and went to the house.

Jeff was there and by surprise so were his parents and Lucas.

"Well hello again." Laura smiled to me.

"Hi." I said. "Jeff can I talk to you?" I asked him.

"Hi Xerxes." Lucas said smiling at me as Jeff stood up and walked over to me.

"Hi Lucas." I smiled.

"What do you want to talk about?" Jeff said stepping in my line of vision.

"Oh so, _now_ you wanna talk to me?" I asked him.

"Excuse me?" He scoffed.

"I wanna know what's going on with you. Then after you tell me that I wanna know what's going on with us, because I'm confused okay I'm just-are you cheating on me?" I asked him.

"Xerxes-"

"Are we even together?" I asked him. Jeff sighed looking down at the table.

"This isn't the time Xerxes." He said.

"Then when is the time, because I'm sick and tired of ignored by you. Last night I tried to do something special for us and you just walked away."

"Sounds like someone has an apology to make." Laura cooed.

"You know you're right Laura." He started. "Xerxes you do deserve an apology and I'm sorry. You deserve so much better than what I've done. Me giving you life, and giving you a place to sleep, and blowing thousands of dollars on you doesn't mean shit when I don't talk to you for 24 damn hours. I'm so sorry that I broke your fucking heart." He spat.

"Woah calm down Jeff. You don't have to jump down her throat about it." I heard Lucas chime in. It would be in character to try and be my superhero.

"The only one who's trying to jump anywhere is you, down her pants. So why don't you kiss my ass, sit down, and shut the hell up while I talk to _my_ girlfriend. Which by the way I hope answers your stupid question." He said turning back to me.

"Don't you mean your toy?" Lucas said standing up.

"Lucas stop." I pleaded quietly.

"Jeff why don't you go ahead and tell Xerxes what she really truly deserves?" Lucas said.

"Oh and what's that? You? I don't think so. Why would she settle for something like you when she has me? What exactly could you do for her Lucas? You couldn't take care of her, you couldn't please her, you wouldn't even be able to kiss her the right way and if by some strange piece of luck you _do_ get to be with her just once, the whole entire time you two were together, she'd be thinking of me."

"You know what, maybe you're right. Maybe I couldn't 'please' her or take care of her, but there is one thing I could do that you will never be able to and that's love her."

"She doesn't want your love." Jeff growled.

"It's better than nothing now isn't it?" Lucas growled back.

"Stop! Please just stop! Look, I just wanted to talk to Jeff okay. I didn't need or _want_ anyone else opinions or inputs. I didn't want anyone trying to be my hero. This was between Jeff and I and no one else. Lucas, thanks, but no thanks. I can fight my own battles." I looked between the two of them one more time before disappearing to my bedroom. I didn't intend on starting a fight. I just wanted to talk.

…...

"I want all of you out." I growled.

"How dare you speak to my son that way." Laura sneered.

"How dare you still talk to me like I care." I said rolling my eyes.

"Oh calm down." My father said. "We're leaving, but I just thought you should know that the council is having a meeting tomorrow. You should come, it may benefit you."

"Whatever." I scoffed. "Just get out. Please." I turned my back to them and sighed to myself. I'd have to fix this with Xerxes. I'm pretty sure I had a right to be mad. She was mad at me because I didn't eat with her? The hell? That made no sense. I went to her room and stood outside her door. I could hear her crying on the other side and something inside me felt weird. I felt..bad. I felt a little guilty on the inside. She was really upset over this.

"Xerxes." I called lightly knocking.

"Go away!" She yelled. Something hit the door, fell down the steps and then to the floor. Probably a pillow. Isn't that what they all throw?

"Xerxes may I come in?" I asked.

"I said, go away! What part don't you understand!? Go or away!?" I bit my tongue and opened the unlocked door. I shut it after me and walked the way to the bed. She was face down on the mattress crying her eyes out into the blankets. I laid down next to her gently and put one around her.

"Xerxes." I whispered. I moved some of her short hair from over her ear and kissed it.

"Stop it." She sniffled.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said any of that." I told her.

"I don't care." She said sniffling some more.

"What do you want me to do to make it better?" I asked honestly. Her tiny shoulders shrugged against the covers.

"Lucas was right. You're never going to love me. Yea it hurts to know that, but I can handle that if I know that you at least like me, but it doesn't even seem like you like me anymore either." She cried.

"But I do like you. I might..I might even love you in a way." I told her. Love? Nah, couldn't be.

"Really?" She asked lifting her head up.

"Yes, really." She shifted her body a little, wiped her eyes and propped herself up on her elbow.

"Thank you. That means a lot to me whether you know it or not." She leaned in and kissed me. I slid her over on top of me and locked my arms around her waist.

"I wanna be with you Jeff." She moaned. "I want you to be mine, all mine. Forever." This scene seemed familiar, those words too seemed familiar. Like someone had said them to me before. Someone _had_ said these to me before. I rolled her over on her back lying on top of her. But I saw another woman. A woman both unwanted and wanted.

"Take me." She breathed. I wanted her so badly. I was throbbing and aching all over for her, but something was stopping me.

_'What the hell are you waiting for? You've never hesitated on a woman before, why now? Why this one?' _He said in my head.

_'She's too much like her. It'd be like being with her all over again.'_ I told him.

_'Stop being a pussy. The bitch is dead, this one's live and willing, begging. Take her. Now. Take her!' _So I would. Giving in to his voice in the back of my head. The monster within me. It may as well have been him in this bed with her. Tearing off articles of clothing. Kissing and touching. Penetrating her with such a need that nearly burned my very core. Thrusting with an impatient force deep inside of her.

It made me wonder. Could she really feel this deeply about me so quickly? I felt like I felt decades ago. When I fell in love that first, unfortunate time. She was so beautiful. She was so sweet. I bent and broke every bone in my body to please her. To make her happy. And she cheated on me. She humiliated me. She used me and had the nerve to come crawling back to me. Did she think I'd really feel sympathy for her and her tears? Because she begged and pleaded on her knees? No.

Her lips came down on me again. I looked up at her. She was nothing like her. I hardly doubted that Xerxes could ever have an evil bone in her body. Why was it that hearing those tears fall made me realize all this now? Did I actually care about her now? Because she cried? The confusion that made me right now was practically unbearable.

"I love you Jeff." She said again. "I'll never to you what Heidi did." Heidi. All these thoughts revolved around her and now, finally, someone had spoken her name. It wasn't someone I expected though. Xerxes. How. How did she know about Heidi?


	8. Chances

Turning Tables

Disclaimer: We all know that I am not lucky enough to own Jeff Hardy or anyone else..just Xerxes and the OC(s).

**Warning Extreme Unexpected Sexual Content ;D**

Chapter 8: Chances

…...

Last night was still a blanket of confusion to me. Hearing her name aloud kind of shattered me. Part of the idea to kill her was an attempt to never have to deal with her again. Yet here I was, dealing with her day by day. She was like an angry spirit who'd come back for vengeance. Even in death she was a bitch.

"Jeff." I looked towards the voice that belonged to Xerxes. Ah Xerxes. I had questions for her.

"What are you doing out here?" I asked her looking back down at the ground.

"Wild guess." She said. It was a little quiet for a moment before I heard the crunching of leaves beneath her feet as she walked over to me. She sat across from me on the old wooden swing and held on to the rope while staring at me.

"I'm sorry." She said. "I never would've imagined that someone like you could experience the pain of losing a loved one."

"Everyone goes through it." I shrugged. "I've lived for a century kid, there's been a lot of pain in my life."

"Care to share?" She asked me. Share? Well this was strange. I'd never shared my life with anyone. Not even Taeler knew all the details. Just bits and pieces.

"Well, I guess." I cleared my throat and thought of a good place to start. My mom.

"My mom died when I was little. She was pregnant with my baby brother...or sister. I don't know. I never got to find out." I told her.

"How'd she die?" Xerxes asked me.

"She wasn't like us ya know. No vamp. Just lock. She was attacked by a Clan. I can still remember how it felt looking at her there on the floor lifeless and lonely. My dad just seemed to collapse against the wall and sit there. It was like he couldn't move. He couldn't process the fact that his wife and unborn child were dead. He could've saved them. Just one bite. She could've lived together with us. It would've been the two of them and the two of us. Not Laura and Lucas."

"When did they come into play?" She asked.

"Laura and my dad had always been friends. She was a whore then and she's a whore now. After my mother passed she started spending more and more time around him. I thought maybe when she got pregnant with someone else's kid that she'd back off and worry about her own family instead of ours. She didn't, she just latched on more. Eventually they fell in love and the three of them became a family."

"I'm sorry that happened to you. I know exactly how it feels." She said. A question rang in my head. I knew her father was dead, but I never knew what exactly had happened.

"How did your dad die?" I asked her.

"My dad was in the army. He was in Afghanistan at the time. He had one day left there. One day before he could come back home. I could hold him and hug him. His friend was supposed to be the look out and he fell asleep. There was a mortar attack and he didn't make it home. I never got to see my dad again." She said quietly. So here we were. Two broken pieces of a puzzle sitting on this swing. Her silent sobs and my quivering stone heart. I hadn't done this in a long time. I hadn't just slowed down and talked or thought about anything. I was always moving quickly to try and numb this pain when all I apparently needed to do was just let it out. I felt so much better. And it was all because of her.

…...

"First off, I'd just like to thank everyone for coming out today for the first ever Mystic Academy Marathon!" I announced. I paused and waited for the roaring cheers of the crowd to die down before I continued. It was time for the big event. Unfortunately Jeff couldn't be here. He was gone on the road again, but it was fine. I was fine.

"Today not only are we here to help achieve a dream, but we're also here to have fun! There are food and merchandise stands all about the academy grounds so enjoy, have a great time. So runners, you know your objective. The first one to Europe and back here at the Academy wins!" Another pause in my speech for another eruption of roaring and cheers. Europe was pretty far away and I figured it'd be more interesting that way seeing as though it was mostly vampires running. It was like an insurance policy to see to it that this thing didn't last three minutes.

"Runners on your marks!" They all lined up behind the white line. "Get set!" They got down in running and position and at the sound of Tessa's whistle they all took off.

"Everyone else, there is a voting booth over near the entry gate." Tessa reminded the on lookers. I looked over and nodded to Lucas and music filled the area. Tess and I stepped off the stage and proceeded over to him.

"Well I have to say, I honestly didn't think you'd be able to pull this off." Lucas grinned.

"Oh ye of little faith Lucas." I laughed.

"Mhm. Look, I want to apologize for the other day. I shouldn't have budded in." He said.

"It's okay Lucas. You were just looking out for me." I said. Truthfully I was still a little mad with him, but every time I tried showing it I'd think about Jeff, who'd let Lucas have hell for every little thing and how Jeff was always shoving our relationship in his face. It made me less and less mad at him.

"Yea well, I'm gonna go manage my station. You ladies have fun." He said leaving. Tessa quickly took his spot and looked at me with wide curiosity.

"What happened the other day!?" She asked quietly and quickly.

"You remember the day we went to the library?" She nodded. "Well when I got home I asked Jeff if we could talk and I started interrogating him about us and himself and Laura made a snappy remark and he got a little mad and he sort of yelled at me and then Lucas got mad and he and Jeff got into an argument over me and then I got mad and upset and I left." I explained.

"What happened after you left?" She asked with a sly grin. So Tessa knew a lot about mine and Jeff's relationship. She knew all about Lucas' crush on me. She also knew all the dirty bedroom details. We were girls. We were friends. I was going to tell her this stuff. It was inevitable.

"Well after I left, I guess Jeff made everyone leave and he came down to my room. I left the door unlocked because well I just wasn't thinking of locking it, but anyways, he was so sweet. He laid down next to me and he wrapped his arm around me. Tessa, he told me he might love me!"I exclaimed.

"Really! I wish I could've been there." She frowned.

"I'm glad you weren't, we probably wouldn't have had sex if you were." Did I really believe that? For my own sake I'd say that I did.

"Out of all the times that you and Jeff have done it, which one was the best?" She asked. I had to think hard about this. The logical answer would be our first time, but that would make me feel like I chose that one because everyone does. Jeff's work never seemed to fail. As he promised it just got better and better and better and, well you get the point. Our second time together though. I couldn't help but to smile as I thought about it. The way he entered me from behind. The way I clenched around him.

"Xerx. I feel the need to remind you, this isn't the time to start running like a faucet. We're in public." She said whispering the last bit.

"You're right. Thank you for saving me there." I said.

"Hi!" Someone said.

"Hello. What can we do for you?" Tessa asked. It was a tall woman with short dark brown hair. She was holding the hand of a smaller girl who seemed pretty shy if anything. Aw, a family.

"Hi, how much are the shirts?" She asked admiring them.

"$5 for the kids and $10 for the adults." I smiled.

"Great, one of each please!" The lady asked. Tessa took the money and put it in the money box while I handed them their shirts and a complimentary button. After our first sale, the money seemed to keep flowing in. Lucas and Brent were having fun at the game station handing out little toy prizes to the winners. Tessa's mom and Laura were managing the food station and Troen and Tessa's dad were handling the dunk booth. I was so proud of myself. I'd never been able to pull off something like this with Tania.

…...

"I'm so glad you agreed to meet me." She said. "I just kind of thought after what happened, well, you know."

"Yea I get it. Taryn can we please just get to the point of this?" I asked her.

"Right. Jeff, I'm going to be honest with you. I've always sort of had a thing for you and that night that we slept together I thought maybe you liked me too, but then the next morning you were gone without a word and I just...I was confused." The blonde said. Taryn and I were sitting inside of the hotel diner. She'd called me last night and asked me to come here with her so we could talk about what happened.

"Taryn you know I'm talking to someone." I said.

"Yea I heard, but-"

"But what? No one has to know?" I asked. Taryn hung her head a little and fiddled with her hands.

"You barely even know her." She said quietly.

"Which is exactly why we're talking." I said.

"How did you even meet this Cassie chick!?" She exclaimed.

"Carsey." I corrected.

"Ugh whatever. What the hell happened to you and Xerxes? I thought you two were dating?" She asked. I never thought that when I heard this question I'd hesitate to answer. I knew that there was a little part of me that had some feelings for her, that cared about her, but then there was the real part of me that remembered why she was here. One purpose and one purpose only.

Carsey was nothing as well. She was nothing, never will be anything and nor will she mean anything. I would never have a connection with her. We would never be together other than sexually and that was it. She was a pawn in my game of chess.

_'Well if she's a pawn, is the other one a pawn too?'_ He teased.

_'Xerxes? No, she isn't a pawn. Not completely. She's..she's half pawn and half-_

_'Queen?' _Queen? No. Not yet. I needed to get on that. I needed to start looking at rings I guess.

"Xerxes and I are fuck buddies." I answered finally.

"Are? Don't you mean were?" She hissed.

"Why break it off when Carsey and I haven't started anything yet?"

"Jeff, you are the coldest, most cruelest person I have ever met. You're going to get caught in your little game one day. And when you do and lose everything, I just hope that I'll be there to laugh in your face."

…...

I stepped out of the shower still feeling exhausted. Lucas was sitting on the couch counting up the last of the money. He too looked worn out from our long day. It was 5 in the morning and the marathon had ended 2 hours ago.

"How much did we make?" I asked sitting next to him.

"Let's just say someone's going to be a very happy camper." He said tiredly.

"We reached the goal?" I asked hopefully.

"You surpassed your goal Xerx. Here you have 75 thousand dollars." He said smiling. I faced forward in my seat and threw my arms out letting out a weak 'yay'. I couldn't stay up another minute.

"Thanks for all your help Lucas." I said patting his back.

"Your welcome. Xerxes...can I talk to you before I go?" He asked.

"Sure, what's up?" I asked leaning back on the couch.

"What do you see in him?"

"Lucas no. Not tonight. I'm too exhausted for this." I sighed.

"Please Xerx, just answer the question. It's important to me and I want to know why. Why do you fall for his bullshit? He doesn't love you." He said.

"Lemme guess, not the way you do?" I scoffed standing up. Lucas stood up after me and gently tugged on my arm turning me to face him.

"Give me a chance to prove it Xerxes." He breathed. "Please. You have no idea how bad I want you. How bad I want to kiss you and hold you and make love to you."

"Lucas." I said shaking my head. "I can't do this. I'm with your brother."

"But you and I both know that part of you wants this just as much as I do." He said. Did I really? Could I see myself cheating on Jeff? It'd be like committing a murder. Lucas' murder, because if Jeff found out he'd surely kill him.

"He never has to know." He said stroking my hair. Before I could object to anything Lucas kissed me. But it wasn't like Jeff's. It was good, but different. So different. His kiss was more gentle. More feeling and less lust. I felt so guilty and so bad. Why didn't I pull away?

…...

My fingers kept sliding up and down her smooth torso, feeling the slender fabric of her bra on the sides. Her tongue found my skin and I felt my will crumbling, forgetting everything but her touch and smell.I wanted her so badly. Now. Before it was too late. I worked my hands slowly up her body, massaging and touching as I went. The cloth of her shirt kept riding up as I moved, exposing more and more of her. As I was kneading just below her bra strap, I felt her hands move up to the top button of my shirt, pulling it off over my head.

"Jeff's going to kill you." She whispered when our lips broke apart.

"It's worth it." She pushed me back down onto the couch and straddled me. Without a delay, she grabbed her t-shirt and pulled it over her head, tossing it away. She looked like a dream come to life. Her black hair cascaded down to her shoulders . Her smile adorned her flushed cheeks. My eyes traced along the lines of her neck and over her slender collarbone. Over the bra that kept her round breast.

"Do you like what you see Lucas?" She asked pressing my hands against her breast.

"God yes." I said. I then pressed my hands firmly against her, circling up and down her body, moving briefly under her shorts. As my fingers slid just under the blue fabric down around her hips and to the front, her whole body twitched and leapt.

"Was that a spot I just found?" I said unable to hide my victory smirk.

"Touch it again and you'll see." I grazed my hand over the area again and her body leapt once more.

"I want to find one of your sweet spots now." She said to me. She placed two fingers on my lips where I kissed them once, then twice. I then ran my tongue along each one before opening my mouth and taking the tips of both in. "Lucas, baby, if you keep that up, we will never find your spots."

I didn't care. It felt fantastic. It was knowing that I had her right where I want her. I was about to kiss a third finger when she did what I'd been waiting for ever since I met her. She placed her free hand on the bulge in my pants. I was frozen in that spot. I was becoming harder and harder. I'd never felt like this before. I was throbbing against her hand and it felt amazing.

"Does that feel good Lucas?" She asked me. I could only nod stupidly. It wasn't good; it was overwhelming. She smirked at me and stood up tugging on my hand. I forced myself off the couch and followed her over to the bed where she peeled back the covers. She turned back to me and undid her bra and then hooked the hem of her shorts with her thumbs and pulled them and her panties down and off to the side. It was just her now. Naked and in front of me. She looked amazing. She walked over to me and then hooked her thumbs inside my pants and did to them what she did to hers. Finally he could breathe.

I bent down and moved my lips straight to hers. It was magic.

Her lips moved against mine and soon our tongues were dancing together. I felt her tongue so wet and strong bend up behind my teeth, licking back and forth. I sucked it into my mouth until she somehow reversed it and I felt her sucking my own tongue into her. Her nipples pressed into the bottom of my chest, moving back and forth as we kissed. The tip of my cock was lodged against her stomach, wet against her skin. Our legs slid against one another, and I could not fathom how smooth and soft she felt. I moved my hands down her body and squeezed her bare bottom in my hands. She did the same to me and I felt that smile forming against my lips. I growled against her mouth.

She suddenly grabbed my cock in her hand and began to rub it. I felt her thumb wrapping over the head, rubbing my precum all around. Through the haze in my mind, I felt a drop of moisture running down my leg from her. I was beginning to smell new scents floating around us, from her, from me, from the sweat that was forming on our naked bodies. I wanted to taste her, taste all of her, before the night was done. I broke apart our kiss and I gave a playful shove and she collapsed backwards and wiggled her perfect little body giving me room to join. Was everything she did the most beautiful thing ever? Straddling her thighs, I leaned over and drew a nipple straight into my mouth.

"Mmmm Lucas." She moaned. As I moved, my tongue slid down her breast onto her stomach. I suddenly breathed in that intoxicating smell that I had noticed before. My eye fell down her stomach, past her navel, to the area that I wanted to be the most. That was something to discover. I kissed down her stomach ever so slowly, making sure nothing escaped my lips. I could feel my excitement building as I moved lower. She also began to shudder and catch her breath and I was already in danger of cumming without anything touching me. I changed from kissing to licking up and down the sides of her belly.

There was no time left to waste. No more slow moving with her. She was so wet. I kissed her sweet spot sucking it into my mouth. I slid my arms under her thighs holding on to her as she began moving. I licked back and forth as fast as I could and heard my name.

"Lucas." She moaned. "Not so soft." Ah. I see what she was getting at. I pressed my tongue harder on her spot and licked and this time she called my name in a more excited way. I couldn't take it anymore. I leaned up positioning myself directly in between her legs and pushed inside her without warning.

"Ahhh fuck!" She exclaimed wiggling beneath me. Being inside her made part of me wonder if this was what it was like to be Jeff. Was it better with me than it was with him? Then looking at her face made none of that matter anymore. I was here with her now and that's all that counted. She was so tight around me and I felt so much pressure. I felt her hips move against me, rocking ever so slightly as I pushed in and pulled out of her repeatedly. I kept my cock as still as I could, just filling her, while my fingers began to touch that sensitive spot. She whimpered and groaned beneath me. Her muscles gripped my cock inside her, squeezing it and releasing it. It felt so good. Her nails clawed at my back and I could feel myself building and building up to that point. Thrusting deeper into her. Everything felt so good so right. So normal and finally the release I'd been dying for. Again and again inside of her.

I would never forget this night. I hoped she'd never forget this night. And I hoped like hell, that Jeff didn't find out about this night.

…...

**A/N**** Dear God, what the hell is Xerxes thinking? Is Jeff going back to his old ways that quickly? I wonder if these two will ever get it right. **

**A big thanks to shiki94 for reviewing! :D**


	9. Fallen For A Pretty Face

Turning Tables

Disclaimer: We all know that I am not lucky enough to own Jeff Hardy or anyone else..just Xerxes and the OC(s).

**Warning Extreme Unexpected Sexual Content ;D**

Chapter 9: Fallen For A Pretty Face

…...

I'd washed the sheets five times and I still didn't feel like the stains were gone. Then I'd gone out and bought new sheets. I felt a little better about that situation but I still felt terrible about the whole thing. How could I do this? I couldn't keep this a secret from Jeff. He didn't deserve that.

I woke up to the loud ringing of my cell phone. I nearly fell out of bed and stumbled over to find it. I hit my knee on the table and fell on my back clutching at my throbbing knee. Damn that hurt. The phone took off again and I saw the light under the couch. I reached over and pulled the phone to my ear answering it.

"Hello?" I said groggily.

_'Hey beautiful. Glad you're awake. I have a surprise for you.' _I immediately felt the guilt rushing back to me as I heard his voice through the phone.

"Hey." I said hesitantly. "What do you mean a surprise?"

_'I bought you flight tickets so you can come out here with me. You're going to experience life on the road baby.' _He said. It nearly brought tears to my eyes hearing him on the other line. It was a constant reminder of my betrayal.

"Really?" I sniffled. "You did that for me?"

_'Yea. What's wrong you sound like you're crying?' _

"No. I'm fine. I had the fan on and now my nose is runny." I lied.

_'Oh alright well all you have to do is go down to the airport and pick up the tickets there.' _He told me.

"Alright. How long will we be down there?" I asked wiping my eyes.

_'A week.' _He told me.

"Okay well I guess I should go and shower up and start packing." I told him.

_'See ya when ya get here.' _We hung up and I stood up walking back over to my bed. I plugged my phone and fought through the darkness to find the light switch. I needed a nice, long shower.

…...

Two hours later I was all ready to go and locking up the house. I was on my way out of the front door when Lucas showed up. Great this was just what I _didn't_ need.

"Hey there gorgeous." He said leaning in to kiss me. I pulled back before our lips touched.

"Lucas I can't." I told him. He looked around me and I could see the frown forming on his face.

"Where are you going?" He asked me.

"Jeff bought me tickets to come on the road with him." I said quietly.

"Oh. So you're going back to him?" He asked. I looked at him with a snide look on my face.

"Did you expect me to break up with him because we fucked?"

"The first time no. The second time, I had my hopes." Ugh the accursed second time. Two mistakes in the same night.

"Well you shouldn't have. I was wrong Lucas. So wrong. What happened between you and I was a mistake. We're friends and that's it." I leaned down to pick up one of my suitcases when he pulled me against him and kissed me. With all the fight I had in me I tried pulling away, but I couldn't. He was like his brother, intoxicating. Our movements were swift as we rid each other of our clothes and fell to the floor.

I forced him down on his back and traveled down his body to my favorite temporary toy. I'd never given head before. Not for anyone and not even for Jeff. I started small. I cupped his balls in my left hand as if to reassure myself of the heft I knew was there, and then tugged on them. She applied myself to licking my his shaft, even sucking on it sideways from the base upwards while licking at the same time.

It was only then that I took him into my mouth sucking the large head as my cheeks hollowed and I gazed deeply into his eyes. A regretful smile worked its way around my lips. I took in half of his cock, closed my eyes and headed with my lips to the base, stifling my gag reflex as his cock head touched the back of my throat.

I felt satisfied enough afterwards and I removed his dick from my mouth. What would I do now? If this were Jeff...I'd ride him. I positioned myself above his hardness and teased myself by rubbing lips and clit with his engorged head and soon found myself nearly coming. I guided his head inside of me and slowly moved down on his shaft.

"Ohhh." I moaned as I felt him fill me. He watched me as I ran my hands through my hair and had my moment of sin and glory on top of him. I bounced up and down faster and faster on his cock as my hands wandered around my body. I felt his hands grab my ass as he began thrusting upward into me fucking me from below. I placed my hands on the ground leaning into him as he continued to fuck me. I felt my body ripple with explosions of pleasure.

"Yes Lucas! Oh God fuck me!" I screamed cumming all over him. I felt my breath slipping away from me as his thrust came to a halt and he rolled us over. I could feel him pumping inside me again at a much faster pace than before.

"Xerxes." He groaned. "Fuck you're so tight. You look so good." I bit into my bottom lip hard. Dammit was I really cumming again?

"I could fuck you all night long baby." He said leaning in to kiss my neck. I didn't have all night. I was so late. I would have to take another shower after this, find a new outfit and then get a ride to the airport which would be pointless because I wasn't going to make it anyways. Kind of made me wonder where the hell Tessa was. Then I was brought back to the present when Lucas began giving me slow, hard thrust. It felt so amazing. I could feel my juices flowing from my pussy.

"Say it." He growled. "Please. I need to hear it." Say what? It was hard to think with all these things running through my mind. I felt my body begin to shake again as I sprung into another orgasm.

"Lucas! Fuck, my God I love you." I screamed as I felt myself lose control. Painful realization settled in me within the next ten seconds as I unloaded inside me. Had I really said that?

"I love you too Xerxes."

…...

I was laying down on the hotel room bed watching some cheesy movie. Xerxes had called me earlier and told me she'd be a little late and not to wait up. Time was ticking by slower and slower. Finally I heard a well awaited knock. Room service! I hopped off the bed and opened the door and kind of got a little sad.

"Xerx?" I frowned.

"Well hi to you too." She said.

"Sorry, I was expecting room service." I told her. I noticed she was standing awkwardly against the wall and there was a strange girly aroma filling my nose.

"Did you drown yourself in your perfume or something?" I asked coughing and moving away from her.

"Sorry." She said giggling.

"Well aren't you coming in?" I asked covering my nose.

"Yup." She said. "Eventually." I rolled my eyes at her and stepped out into the hall. I grabbed her arm and pulled her inside with me. I went back for her bags and shut the door after me. Once again she was clinging to a wall on the far side of the room.

"Are you alright? You seem...suspicious." I said narrowing my eyes.

"No it's just...I know the smell of all this perfume is probably unbearable for you. Silly me! What was I thinking using a whole bottle?" She laughed. "I'm gonna take a shower." She hurried off towards the bathroom and shut the door quickly after her. Something was definitely up with her. I tossed her bags on the bed and opened them rifling through. I found the object I was looking for and unlocked it. I went to her text messages and began reading them. The ones between Tessa and her interested me the most. Damn it was like she was sending this girl a sex story with all the details on our sexual encounters. All in all not even Tessa's messages helped. The last message was one from Tessa.

_'Hey, I showed up at the house but um...I didn't think you were still going...text me!' _Nothing. There was a couple messages from Lucas.

_'I had fun last night Xerx.' _And one back from Xerxes saying, _'I had fun too, but I don't ever think we should do that again.' _These were sent the day after the marathon, guess those won't be annual. I tossed the phone on the bed and waited for her to get out of the shower. I could just imagine what she looked like. Naked and soapy. The thought made my mouth water. I could feel my dick twitch and it was like a signal that it was time to reunite. I dropped articles of clothing on the floor as I walked towards the bathroom creeping silently. Her back was to me and I could see my favorite asset. Her nice plump ass was dripping with soap and water. It practically begged me to bend her over and fuck, whatever energy she had left in, out of her.

I opened the shower door catching her off guard. I clasped my hand over her mouth and grinned pressing my body against hers. I removed my hand from her mouth and ran them over her precious little body.

"Jeff." She said panting. "Please we can't do this."

"Wrong. We can do this and anything else we want." I chuckled in her ear.

"Wrong. I can't do this. I'm so tired." She said.

"You don't have to do anything baby. Just bend over and let me take care of it." I took hold of one of breast squeezing her nipple while my other hand played with clit. I could feel her grinding against me to my rhythm of my fingers.

"That feels so good." She muttered. Her head fell to the side exposing the flesh of her neck. I leaned down kissing and nipping at her skin.

"Does it?" I asked against her neck.

"Yes. Oh yes." She said. My fingers circled her sweet clit faster as my erection peaked against her. She bent over a little placing her hands on the shower walls. She began grinding against my hand as the sensation became to overtake her. I pulled my hands away from her cunt. I began to inch toward her tight ass, circling it with my finger and spreading her perfect cheeks, teasing her ass with the tip of my finger, waiting to gauge her response. I played in her inviting crack, wanting so badly to finger her. I wasn't surprised when I felt her match my teasing by grinding her hips up into my waiting hand, inviting me deeper.

Xerx let out a small moan and worked her hips up toward my hand, pushing against it and driving my eager finger deeper into her cavern. She again let out a moan as his cock throbbed against her, wanting to pound her ass.

This was like torture. If I didn't cum soon I was going to explode. I removed my finger and placed my cock in the crack of her ass grinding on her, working her nipples and kissing her until I could feel that she was as filled with as much desire as I was.

"Please, fuck me. Fuck my ass, I've been waiting for you all day," she said in a breathy wanting voice. Her words sent a rush of blood to my already rock hard cock, making it throb with desire. I felt the wall of her tight hole as he started to push against it, opening it up and feeling her tight muscles relax around me inviting me in. It was amazing, her tight ass giving way to my hard cock as I pushed firmly into her. She was so tight around me and I was so turned on by the tight fit of our bodies.

"Mmm I love the feel of your dick inside me." Xerxes moaned with pleasure. "Oh fuck!" She moaned again grinding her hips back against my cock. She slammed her body back to meet my thrusts, pushing me deep inside her and opening herself up to take in as much of me as she could. I pulled out of her ass for a moment turning to face me. I picked her up posting her against the shower wall and slid her down onto my shaft.

She stared at me with deep concentration as I moved quickly inside of her. Our foreheads touched and I touched her face with my hand. This had gone from an evening fuck to making love to her. Making her feel amazing was the only thing on my mind now. For once, it wasn't about me.

"Oh Jeff." She moaned draping her arms around me. I held onto her hips tighter squeezing with no intentions of letting go. "Yes, oh fuck yes! I'm so close!" She whimpered, wrapping her legs around me.

"Cum. Cum for me Xerxes." I pleaded pressing against her more.

"Yes yea, you, just you! I'm yours!" She screamed as we both came together. Her grip around me tightened before her legs finally weakened and unlaced themselves from around me. She kissed me passionately before I let her down to her feet. After taking an actual shower we got out. I wrapped one of the towels around my waist and looked at Xerxes. She was standing wrapped in a towel with her back to me.

"Xerx? Are you okay?" I asked. I waited as she turned around to look at me. Her face was covered with tears.

"I think-I feel-I need- nooooo!" She cried. I went to her and held her in my arms. Why was she crying? Did I hurt her? I scooped her up in my arms and carried her off to the bedroom and laid her down on the bed.

"Did I hurt you?" I asked her wiping away some of her tears.

"N-no. You didn't do anything wrong." She sniffled some more. "You were perfect."

"Then why are you crying?" I asked her confused.

"Because I'm a whore!" She exclaimed breaking down in more tears. Not too long ago I thought that same thing.

"Xerxes, what are you talking about? Having sex doesn't make you a whore." I told her.

"Yes it does!" She objected.

"Not when you only do it with one person." I chuckled. I waited for her response, but she said nothing. She just wiped more tears away and avoided eye contact with me.

"You...you _have_ only been with one person right?" I asked. She didn't answer me again and I felt something jump inside of me.

"Xerxes." I said adding firmness to my voice.

"I'm so so sorry." She wept. I sat back on the bed and ran my hand over my mouth and thought for a moment.

_'How the fuck did you let this happen?' _He taunted.

_'Shut up. This isn't my fault.' _I said to the aggravating voice in my head. I stood up from the bed and pulled on a pair of boxers trying to buy myself time to think of what to say.

_'You know what you have to do now right?' _He asked.

_'What?'_

_'Punish her. Kill her.' _Rowan was going to be the end of. I turned to Xerxes and smiled at her.

"Come here Xerx." I said. She sat up on the bed and looked at me with a concerned look.

"You're not mad?" She asked.

"I want us to talk about this. Put some clothes on and come here." I told her. I watched her while she moved slowly and put on a fresh pair of bra and panties. She moved nervously over to me playing with her hands. I wouldn't kill her. That was a little too far. She stopped in front of me and I couldn't seem to wipe the smile off my face.

"Who was he?" I asked calmly.

"You're too okay with this." She said her voice shaky.

"Answer the question." I told her. She looked around the room biting on her bottom lip. I could hear start to sniffle again and fresh tears fell.

"Oh God I'm sorry." She cried.

"Xerxes. Just...tell me." I said placing my hands gently on her shoulders.

"It was Lucas." She whispered. That's where the smile had faltered. I was never going to keep it to begin with. It was mainly there, because I had a devious plan to torture her, but now I just wanted to strangle the fuck out of her.

"Lucas?" I asked hoarsely. "Just once right?" I asked next.

"No...three times. Baby I'm so sorry. It was a mistake and I never meant for it to happen." She claimed placing her hands on my cheeks.

_'Is it just me, or is it getting a little hot in here?'_ I grabbed her wrist holding them tighter to my face. I watched her face twist in slight agony.

"Jeff stop." She said trying to pull her hands away. "Oh my- you're burning my hands stop!" She said. I gave her what she wanted and dropped her hands right before swinging the back of my hand across her face sending her down to the floor.

"You selfish little slut." I growled. I could feel the heated change inside my body. A change that I had grown accustomed to, but it felt so much worse. I watched her through red eyes as she crawled up to the bed holding her cheek and staring at her red hands.

"You expect me to believe you're sorry!? To believe is was a mistake? That you never wanted it to happened!? When did you not want his dick inside you huh!? The first, second, or third time!?" I yelled grabbing a handful of her hair and yanking her back down to the floor.

"Stop! Please, I'm sorry!" She screamed. I went to the door of the hotel room and opened it. I gathered up her bags and threw them outside scattering her things everywhere.

"What are you doing!?" She exclaimed stumbling to her feet.

"Get out." I hissed. "Tonight you can sleep on the floor.._outside_ of the room." She stood in that spot shaking her head at me. Did she not get I was doing this for her own good?

"I'm not leaving." She said. I bit my lip frustrated with her before moving across the room to her. She turned to run from me but I grabbed her around her waist and pulled her with great ease out to the hallway.

"Jeff no! Please don't do this to me!" She begged.

"Now you know how to say no? Don't worry it's not so bad about here. You can lay on your back like you've been doing for my brother and you'll feel right at home." With that I slammed the door in her face and fell against it. Shit this actually hurt. It felt so familiar and so bad. Her tiny fist banging on the door from the opposite side. I'd done that shit again, I fell for a pretty face.

…...

"Jeff please." I said tiredly. I'd been out here all night. My eyes burned and my throat was hoarse. My face and my hands still hurt like hell, but my heart hurt more. I really fucked up. I deserved whatever he was going to do to me. I brought my knees up to my chest, wrapped my arms around them and cried silently.

"Hey." Someone said. I looked up and saw James Curtin looking down at me with remorse.

"Hi." I said meekly.

"Come on kid. Get your stuff you can stay with me tonight." He said. I shook my head quickly.

"No." I said. "I can't. Jeff will get mad at me." I told him.

"No he won't. It's okay sweetie. You're fine. He wont hurt you." He said. He knelt down in front of me and held me in his arms. James was there for me that night and whether I'd admit it or not I was glad for him. I didn't want to be alone. I couldn't deal with that right now. Tomorrow I'd go back to Jeff and I'd beg for forgiveness on all fours if need be. I'd do whatever it took to make this right. Whatever it took.


	10. Glad You Came

Turning Tables

Disclaimer: We all know that I am not lucky enough to own Jeff Hardy or anyone else..just Xerxes and the OC(s).

Chapter 10: Glad You Came

…...

I woke up the next morning rushing back to the hotel room. James came with me carrying my bags. I just needed to talk to him. To let him know how sorry I was. I couldn't begin to describe how angry I was. With myself and with Lucas. This was his fault. I said no. I did. He didn't force me, but he sure as hell didn't listen to me either.

"Jeff open up. It's me. We need to talk. Please. Please open the door." I begged. I waited for a minute before the handle turned and the door opened. Jeff stared at me with tired eyes and then he looked at James and back at me.

"Lemme guess." He said. "Did you suck his dick too? Or did you just let him fuck you on the floor?" I stole a quick glance at Spud before looking down covering my mouth with a shaky hand. How did he know? Did he talk to Lucas?

"Please Jeff. Can we please talk about this inside. In private." I asked feeling the embarrassment creep up the back of my neck.

"Tell me, did you like the way his dick slid in and out of you? Did you claw at his back and beg him for more?" He continued.

"Hey look man, I'm not- I ain't apart of this." James said backing away with his hands up.

"Jeff please stop saying that." I cried.

"Did you ride him? Did you cum on his cock and tell him you love him?" He asked.

"James leave please." I sighed.

"I won't leave you here with him if you don't want me to." He said.

"Well I do. I want you to leave okay, just go!" Spud stared at me before shrugging and walking off back to the elevator. I looked at Jeff and moved quickly putting myself between the door hoping he wouldn't close it on me.

"Please. Let me in and I'll tell you everything. I promise." Jeff scoffed me and turned away making his way over to the bed. I kicked my bags inside and followed them shutting the door.

"I already know everything." He said.

"Really?" I asked. "Do you know that...every time I was with him I was thinking of you? Do you know when I told him I loved him I felt like shit, but then I felt a little better when he said it back because I imagined it coming from your lips? Jeff I'm sorry. I don't know how many more times you want me to say, but I just want you to believe me." His eyes lingered on the floor and I took a chance sitting next to him.

"When we had our first time Jeff I never pictured myself being with anyone else. I mean it. Last night when I said I was yours, I meant that too. Me being with Lucas doesn't matter. He isn't the one I want. He isn't the one I need. What happened with him was just a simple fuck. No feelings attached. What you and I have...it's so much more special." I told him.

"What you and I have Xerxes...he knows...what _we_ have. He's _experienced_ what _we_ have! He knows what it feels like to be inside of you! He knows what it's like to kiss you! To touch you! To feel you!" He yelled.

"No one is supposed to know that Xerxes! No one, but me! It was barely two weeks ago when you looked me in my eyes and you that you wouldn't do what she did. You're no better than her. You know what though? I've said all I'm gonna say. I'm over it. Just to uh, make things even between us though, I just want you to know... that I fucked Taryn and that I've taken on a relationship with another woman."

…...

It felt pretty damn good watching her fall to pieces this morning. She deserved it for what she did to me. I'd erased all my feelings for her. Time to go back to the original plan. As for her and Lucas. Going back and seeing it all for myself, it ripped me up on the inside a bit more, but it just helped me to forget about her as well.

I'd dealt with her and now it was time to take care of my sweet little brother. She lay sleeping on the hotel bed tired from her ordeal. I shrugged on my jacket and rolled my neck around. I had no plan of action. I was just going to beat his ass. Right now he was at the academy. Great, I could whoop his ass in front of all his little friends. I closed my eyes and blinked to my place of desire. I appeared in the front of a classroom. I recognized Tessa. She was sitting next to Lucas.

"Mr. Hardy? What in God's name is your excuse for popping up in my class like this?" I ignored the man and moved towards my target. He straightened up in his seat a little shaking his head.

"Jeff wait we-" There was no waiting. I grabbed his shirt throwing him into the walls and slammed my fist into his face. The shocked expressions from the hiked up teenagers behind me didn't phase me. It didn't change my mood or distract me. I just kept going. Kept punching and punching and punching. I wanted him to look different. To be permanently different. Maybe then she wouldn't like him.

"Stop it! Stop!" The old man yelled. I felt his hand grab at me so I turned on him too and then continued with my dear old brother.

"You think you're a big man now Lucas!?" I yelled. "Huh!? You think you're a big man now!?" I punched him again and his head bounced off the wall before I let him drop to the ground. I looked at my bloodied fist and then as his bloodied face. Slowly I laid down on the ground facing him. His breathing was raspy. Was he dying? Damn I hope he was dying.

"How did it feel huh?" I asked him. "How did it feel to lay on top of her and kiss her? Run your hands through her hair? Did you feel like a king when you bedded her? Was it worth it Lucas? Was it worth all this to just to get a piece?" I shook my head at him and got back up to my feet. I turned to look at everyone in the room before grabbing one of the trembling boys shirts and wiping the blood of my hands. I pulled a cigarette from my pocket, put it to my lips and lit it on contact before inhaling and exhaling deeply and walking out feeling so much anger slide off my back.

…...

"Thanks so much again Tess for paying Mrs. Stabler while I was gone." I said to my friend. We sat in my bedroom on the bed making menus and sketching out design ideas for our gourmet shop. I'd decided to share ownership with Tessa.

"You're welcome Xerx." She said not looking at me. That was the fifth time today that I'd said something to her and she hadn't even looked at me or sounded the least bit happy.

"What did I do wrong?" I sighed.

"What?" She asked finally taking a glance at me.

"That's the first time you've looked at me since you got here. Did I make you mad or something?" I asked.

"No. It's not like that I just...I feel bad that I'm not with Lucas right now." She said. Lucas? What was going on between her and Lucas?

"Why would you feel bad?" I asked casually.

"Because...he's in Mercy Medical. Our world's hospital." She said.

"Mercy wha- Why is he in the hospital? Did he get into an accident?" I asked beginning to worry.

"You don't know? When you and Jeff were on the road, your boyfriend made a surprise visit and beat the living hell out of Lucas! Lucas was bleeding everywhere and he was barely breathing. Good Lord Xerx, he was barely conscious."

"Oh my God." I gasped. I could feel the tears stinging my eyes and the guilt rush to my head.

"H-how could he do this?" I asked as I broke down in tears. Tess rushed to me immediately. She pulled me into a gentle but tight embrace and rubbed my back.

"Sh sh sh. It's okay hunny, it's okay. Lucas is going to be fine now. The people up there are taking good care of him." She cooed trying to soothe me. I could feel my body shaking and face was getting hot from all the tears.

"Tessa I have to go." I sobbed. "I have to go see him. This is all my fault!"

"Sweetie do you think that's a good idea? Jeff would be really really mad if you went." She frowned.

"I have to." I said shaking my head.

"Alright well maybe you should take a nap first. You need to calm down. If he sees you like this it'll only hurt him more." She started wiping some of my tears off while urging me to lay down. I did so trying to slow my tears. Tessa moved everything off the bed and to the couch making sure I was comfortable.

"I'm going to go and let you sleep. I'll be back in a few hours to take you to see him. I promise." She said smiling lightly.

"Wait, I thought he was a vampire? Why is he hurt this bad?" I asked confused.

"He's only a halfy. The other half of him is a warlock but those powers were stripped from him. Some family issue again. Anyways, the vampire part of him isn't that strong either."

"Well why can't they just use their magic to make him better?" I sniffled.

"Healing doesn't completely work like we all would want it to. So instead they use healing potions. It takes a bit longer, but it's pretty damn effective. No more questions. Sleep." She said. I nodded and closed my eyes deciding she was right. All that crying made me tired.

…...

Listening to their conversation made me sick. Hearing her cry over him made me sick. I couldn't stand her. I waited leaning against the wall when Tessa finally left the room. She stopped when she saw me and a scowl crossed her face.

"What the fuck are you looking at?" She scowled.

"Well well well, look who has a bad side." I said.

"Screw you." She said.

"Oh I wish you would." I smirked as she tried to walk by me. I put my arm out in front stopping her and shoved her back up against the wall.

"What are you doing? You're _girlfriend_ is in the next room." She gasped.

"And? She cheated on me and didn't seem to care. Why should I care now?" I asked leaning in closer to her. She shrank down against the wall a little trying not to make direct eye contact with me. Tessa was a cute little shy girl. I'd definitely noticed her the first time I saw her.

"Jeff you're mad and I get it, but two wrongs don't make a right." She said.

"She's not going." I said.

"To see Lucas? Sorry to burst your bubble but she is going. He deserves to see her." She snapped.

"Seeing her is what got him in the predicament he's in." I growled.

"No." She said pushing me away from her. "You got him that way." She glared at me baring her fangs.

"As if you'd be stupid enough to attack me." I chuckled.

"Leave me alone." She huffed. She tried again to walk by me but I grabbed her arm squeezing it feeling the hot fire run through me.

"If you take her to see him, you're gonna have to answer to me." I said in a low dark voice.

"You're sick!" She snapped pulling away from me. She stormed out of the house holding onto her arm. I looked towards Xerxes' door before deciding that I had some business to attend to. Some kicking to be done to someone who wasn't down far enough.

…...

I laid down in this bed looking at the people in the room. I could barely see them. I could barely hear them. I was managing the best I could. But the pain was overtaking me more and more. Everything hurt. My head, my chest, my ears. My heart. The bandages on my face covered the majority of the hideous wounds underneath, but they could never hide or stop the blood that was pouring from the gaping wound in my heart. Why wasn't she here? I went through all this for her and she wasn't even here to support me?

My mother came by my side to stroke my hand again. She said something softly to me that I didn't quite catch. I wondered if I'd have to learn sign language now. It'd come in handy if my sight fully healed and my hearing didn't. She wiped at some tears on her face and looked at the door. She seemed to grow immensely enraged and it concerned me. I slowly turned my head towards the direction of the door and I could make out his image. Why was he here? Why was Jeff here?

…...

"Get out!" Laura screamed at me.

"Jeff, what are you doing here?" My father asked calmly.

"What do you mean 'what am I doing here?' I came here to check on my little brother!" I exclaimed.

"Check on him!? After what you did to him you should be here on your knees begging for his fucking forgiveness!" The woman shouted. I rolled my eyes waving her off as I entered the room slamming the door behind me. I walked over to the bed and grinned at the sight. He looked pitiful. His face was bandaged up, but I could still see some of the purple bruising on his face from where his eyes were exposed.

"Hey bro!" I yelled making sure he could hear me. Just in case he still couldn't I leaned into his ear and yelled it again. He winced at the loud sound and then winced again at the pain from wincing.

"How ya feeling!? Ya know, I'm happy that you didn't die in that classroom, because now I get the opportunity to come here and do this!" I laughed. I laid down next to him throwing my arm around his neck pulling him roughly towards me.

"Stop it you're hurting him and you know it!" Laura cried.

"Wow." I said looking around. "Lucas I uh-I think we're missing someone in here!" I yelled nodding quickly. "Her name starts with an X and ends with an S. You do know who I'm talking about right?!" I asked. I waited for a response that wasn't coming before nodding slowly.

"Yea, you know who I'm talking about." I said. "Do you wanna know why she isn't here right now? Because she's sleeping. She's so tired from the trip and working on stuff for the shop. Not to mention being fucked over and over and over throughout our whole time on the road. She's been working pretty hard lately to make up for what she calls her 'mistakes.' The 'worst decisions of her life.' She's been doing a really good job at it too."

"You have no life do you?" Laura asked. "Is this how you get your kicks out of life? By torturing innocent people?"

"Innocent?" I asked. "Innocent people don't consciously sleep with their brothers girlfriends. Ya know, she's so damn desperate for forgiveness that she let me film her? Lucas, Lucas, Lucas. As much as you'd like to think that you were the best thing she'd ever experienced, it just isn't true. The things she lets me do to her you couldn't even dream of being able to do."

"You're sick. I hope you and that stupid little skank of yours both rot in hell." Laura sneered.

"Don't you ever, _ever_ call her out of her name again!" I said snapping at her.

"Jeff, I think you should leave. You coming here wasn't a good idea." My father said.

"Me? I should leave!? You know what, I'm getting really sick and tired of everyone acting like I'm the only one who did something wrong here!? Everyone's feeling so damn sympathetic for this son of a literal fucking bitch right here, yet no one is going to realize the fact that he brought this on himself!? He knew _exactly_ what was going to happen! He was there when Heidi did what she did and he has the fucking nerve to use Xerxes for the same thing, but nobody sees that!"

"You both want your miracle son well there he is. Broken and worthless and I hope like hell he stays that way." I turned towards Laura glaring at her more. "You brought that piece of shit in my life so a big kiss my ass to you. You always, _always_ wanted my dad. I would almost go as far as to say that you arranged her murder so that you could be with him, but for the sake of my sanity I'm not going to believe that. _Fuck_ this family. I'm out of here." I got off the bed and walked out the door slamming it behind me again. I didn't even look back.

…...

Yesterday I unfortunately overslept and didn't get to see Lucas so I was going for sure today. I wanted to go by myself though. We had things we needed to discuss. It seemed like today I was constantly in panic mode. Jeff didn't want me to go see him, so I was afraid of getting caught. Lucas probably hated me. I wonder what it'd be like when I went back to the academy tomorrow.

_'We're beautiful.' _I'd been hearing this voice a lot lately. Normally I'd ignore it, but she was starting to get to me. Who is was I had no clue. Maybe I was going crazy from all the drama going on. I didn't respond to the voice, I simply continued to gaze at myself in the mirror. I'd curled my short hair. I was wearing a blue daydreamer lace dress and some black wedges. It seemed simple enough.

I walked out of the closet and grabbed my purse from off my bed. I blinked to the kitchen to leave a note for Jeff. I couldn't get him off my mind. He hadn't come back last night and Tessa told me he threatened her. I was worried. Things only seemed to be getting worse and it was constantly because of me. Maybe I should just run away.

"Maybe he's at Taeler's house." I muttered to myself. I hadn't seen her in a while. She didn't work on Impact, she did rare guest visits, and I mean extremely rare, but most of the time she stayed on her independent wrestling gigs.

I opened up the refrigerator and pulled out the dinner that I'd made for him last night. I put a sticky note on it for directions on how to heat it up and then I put it back in the fridge. I took one more glance around the house making sure everything was clean and then it was off to Mercy Medical.

…...

"Hello may I help you?" The nice lady asked.

"Yes, I'm here to see one of your patients." I told her.

"Name?" She asked.

"Lucas Watkins." I told her.

"Okay. Are you a first time visitor?" I nodded. "Alright hun, I need you to use this tablet right here to sign up for a Mercy Medical ID card. It shouldn't take more than five minutes. As soon as your done with that, I'll print up your card and get you back to his room."

I took the tablet from her hands and went to the waiting room to begin filling out the form. Jesus these people took their security measures to the extreme. I had an academy card, a library card, and now I was about to have a hospital card. Luckily she wasn't kidding. It didn't take very long to fill it out. I pressed the submit button and returned the tablet. She instructed me to wait there and I then she printed out my card.

"Here ya go. He's in room D238. Fifth floor." She said.

"Thank you." I took the card and slid it in my wallet making my way over to the elevator. That ride was short lived and awkward. I recognized the girl in the corner from school. She obviously knew who I was because she glared at me.

I was grateful when the doors opened to the fifth floor. I walked out and looked for his room. It was at the end of the hall. I knocked lightly and got no response so I just walked in. If a nurse was in there she would've said something right?

"Lucas?" I said quietly. I walked over to the bed staring at him while he stared back at me through narrow eyes. He looked away from me slowly before picking up a little white board on his lap. I waited eagerly before he turned it towards me so I could read it. On the board in a scribbled handwriting were the words 'I'm glad you came'.

"Yea, I'm glad I came too."


	11. Ain't Gettin' Any Better

Turning Tables

Disclaimer: We all know that I am not lucky enough to own Jeff Hardy or anyone else..just Xerxes and the OC(s).

**A/N Warning: Sensual love making :)**

Chapter 11: Ain't Gettin' Any Better

…...

_'You look really pretty Xerx.'_ He wrote.

"Thanks." I said with a small smile. "How bad is it?" I asked. I waited for him to slowly erase and then write down his response.

_'I can't really hear you.' _I looked away from him and around the room thinking. I grabbed his cell phone from off the table and handed it to him before pulling out my own phone.

_'I'm so sorry Lucas.' I messaged._ He held the phone fairly close to his face while reading and replying.

_'It's not your fault babe.'_

_'Still not giving up?' I asked._

_'No way in hell.' He replied. _I sighed reading his message.

_'You're very persistent. Persistence isn't always in our best interest.'_

_'Yea well you are.' _

_'Lucas we need to talk.' I typed._

_'I'm all eyes. Sort of.'_

_'Not funny. Look, I know this is really fast but everything seems to happen quickly in this world. I think. . .I'm pregnant and I can't say for sure if the baby is his or yours.' _I felt like I would die sending that message. I'd first noticed the signs on the road. I felt weird. I felt nauseous. I felt tired and dizzy. I was hoping that I wasn't pregnant, but it seemed the only option left. I rarely ever got sick. I'm not allergic to anything.

_'...Are you serious? How do you know?' He asked._

_'I don't know for sure. I'm going to take a test when I get home.' I responded._

_'Why don't you just take one here? You should get a paternity test while you're here too.' _

_'I want to keep this under wraps Lucas. Can I even get a paternity test right now?' I replied._

_'Yes and Jeff will know if you're pregnant or not. He'll probably know before you do. Even if you don't tell him he'll hear the extra heartbeat when the baby gets one.' He messaged. _

_'Ugh. He's going to kill me.' _

_'Relax. He won't hurt you, I won't let him.' _

_'What the hell are you going to do? You're stuck in here.' I replied. _I sighed frustrated and walked over to the window. I looked out of it at the little people down there communicating in the parking lot and coming and going. I saw one pregnant lady. She was walking hand in hand with what appeared to be her husband. I could see the rock on her finger from up here. My vision was improving. Wonder why. Why couldn't I be that happy? Why couldn't that be me holding hands with Jeff? My husband? My dream husband that is. If I was still stupid enough to believe we could ever make it that far now, ugh. I felt my phone vibrate in my hand and I looked down to read the message.

_'If you are pregnant and it turns out to be my baby, I promise you Xerxes, we'll figure something out.' _I turned to look at him.

_'I want it to be Jeff's baby.' _I thought to myself. I walked over to him and gently kissed his bandaged cheek.

"Thanks Lucas. You're a really good guy." I said.

…...

"Well hey sexy tiger. I haven't seen you in couple weeks." I hadn't expected to see Taeler sitting on my bed waiting for me when I stepped out of the shower. I knew she'd come by eventually, but I at least thought she'd give me a heads up.

"Who's fault is that?" I asked staring at her. I wasn't really up for conversation today. I was drained of energy. I was confused. I was anxious. I was thirsty. I'd just gone hunting three nights ago, but this wasn't a thirst that could be quenched with animal blood. No, I needed something more. Human blood. I was craving it. Naturally being the person that I am, choosing a career that leaves me around thousands of people it'd be a better idea to go on a human free diet. For some reason it was getting harder though, since she came around.

"You don't sound so friendly." She said.

"You caught me at a bad time Tae Tae. Close your eyes." She covered her eyes with her hands and rolled over on her back.

"Bad time huh? How are things between you and the kid?" She asked while I dressed.

"Surprised you haven't heard." I scoffed. "She cheated on me...with Lucas."

"...Woah. What!? And all this time I thought you'd do her dirty!" She exclaimed.

"He's at Mercy Medical. I broke his face. Temporarily and partly deaf. He can't see out of his right eye. I should feel proud. Happy. I was." I sighed sitting on the edge of the bed. Taeler crawled up behind me and stared at me with big curious eyes.

"What changed?" She asked.

"I came home...and she wasn't here. Do you know where she went? To the fucking hospital." I could understand the anger that I felt because she disobeyed me, but I felt more pain than anything. It was hard to get rid of these feelings no matter how much I wanted to. I still loved her and I wanted her to be mine. All mine and no one else's. I wanted to be selfish with her. I didn't want to share what belonged to me and why should I?

"Jeff?" She said.

"Hm?"

"You're in love with her. You need to tell her."

"I know Taeler. I know. I just..I-"

"You don't want her to feel like you're okay with that she did and you feel you have to let her know this by being a dick to her?"

"This is exactly why you're my best friend." I told her.

"No, I'm your best friend because we're both hot and we go well together." She smiled hugging me tightly.

"Oh of course Taeler." I laughed. Damn I hadn't laughed in a while. "I want you to see something I bought her." I said. Taeler moved behind me and wrapped her legs around my waist. I stood up and walked over to the nightstand, opened it, and pulled out a little black box.

"Is that what I think it is? Are you still going through with your plan Jeff? If so, I'm out, I don't want the crowd." She said.

"Yes. It is an engagement ring. No, I'm not still going through with the plan. I wasn't going to give it to her, but you're right. If I want to keep her by my side then I have to make the big step." I told her. The red head was quiet for a bit. She rested her head on my shoulder and nodded.

"Open it." She said. I turned the little box around and opened it.

"It's beautiful. She's lucky." I could feel her smile. I smiled. I guess she was lucky.

"How's it going with le freak?" I asked remembering Taeler was supposed to be hooked up with him.

"So good. I'll be backstage at Slammiversary." She cheered.

"Ugh, the last time you were backstage you told everyone I had a girlfriend." I scoffed.

"You know, you should bring your fiance to Slammiversary!" She cheered.

"She has to yes first Taeler."

"Jeff, can't you just text her and tell her I'm here and that we have to celebrate something special!?" She whined.

"Taeler calm down. She's been there for hours. It's almost six, she'll be here soon to start cooking." I told her setting her down to her feet.

"Yum yum yum! I've missed her cooking!" She said clapping her hands like a giddy little child. I snapped the box shut and dropped it in my pocket.

"She's opening up a gourmet shop. Bought it herself." I told her.

"Is that what that fundraiser was for?" She asked. I nodded. "Did you go?" I shook my head.

"I was gone. I saw all the photos and statuses she posted on Instagram and Twitter. Sounds like people really enjoyed it. They wanna do it again next year."

"That's great. When's the shop opening?" She asked.

"Her and Tessa are-"

"Tessa who?"

"Tessa Malavo. She's short, brown hair, honey colored eyes? She started the academy last year." I informed her. Speaking of her reminded me of what a dick I'd been to her. I never had a problem with Tessa, she was a good little vamp.

"Oh, okay. Her dad's strict. Continue though." Taeler said.

"Anyways, her and Tessa are working on renovations and a menu."

"Jeff, I absolutely can not wait til she gets home." Neither could I Taeler. Neither could I.

…...

Having Taeler over for dinner really made me feel better. She was like a ray of sunshine onto our problems. I was sure that Jeff would have my head for going behind his back, but he just shrugged it off. He seemed pretty happy with me tonight and I was going to bask in this for as long as I could before he found out the truth. Before I found out the truth. I figured I might as well go ahead with the test...I'd scheduled for a paternity test next week after school. I couldn't handle all this at once. After dinner, I wanted Taeler to stay the night just in case Jeff was putting on a front for her, but she couldn't. She had shit to do and I wouldn't prolong her.

"Bye Taeler!" I exclaimed as Jeff and I waved her off. As her car pulled out of the driveway I turned to leave.

"Where are you going?" He asked me.

"My room. It's late and I just wanna go to bed." I said not looking back.

"Xerxes. Can we talk?" He asked following me. Oh God did he know?

"Sure I guess. What about?" I asked turning on the lights.

"About everything. You, me..Lucas."

"Unzip me please." I said standing with my back to him. He slid the zipper of my dress down and held me by shoulders.

"I'm sorry. For what I did. The things I said. I hurt you in more ways than one and you didn't deserve that, no matter what you did, you didn't deserve it. Maybe, maybe if I was nicer to you. If I'd catered to you a little more."

"Jeff stop." I sighed. "I can't do this."

"Can't do what? Xerx I'm trying to make things right between us." He said. I shrugged his hands off my shoulders and turned to face him crossing my arms and pursing my lips. Should I just come right out with it?

"Jeff, I'm glad you're trying. Because that means you don't want us to be over, and trust me I don't want that either. I love you." I told him.

"I love you too and I want to spend the rest of my immortal life with you. I don't ever want us to drift apart like we did again. I don't want us to ever fight anymore. I'm tied of being mad Xerx. I just wanna be happy. I want us to settle down..together." Where the hell was all this coming from? Was God no longer punishing me for my betrayal? Talk about a miracle.

_'If you think that's a miracle, check this out.' _That voice said. I watched as Jeff pulled a little black box from his pocket and lowered himself to one knee.

"Oh my..."

"I know we've had it rough lately, but all that's done. I want you to let me protect you from all the hurt and pain in the world. I want you to be the first one I see when I wake up and the last one I see when I go to sleep." My world was soaring. Was I hearing this correctly? He really did love me.

"Marry me?" A slow smile slid across my face and for a moment I let everything go and forgot all about our problems. My problems.

"Yes." I breathed. "I would love to be your wife." Tears came to my eyes as I watched him slide the gorgeous diamond onto my finger. He stood up and we hugged each other tightly. I didn't want to let him go. I refused to let him go. I reached up to him and kissed him passionately. I needed him tonight. I began pulling and tugging at his clothes.

"You're eager Xerxes." He chuckled between laughs.

"I want to taste you. To please you." I broke our kiss sliding down the length of his body. I stared at the exposed flesh craving it. I took the tip of his cock into my mouth and began a sensuous blow job by swirling my tongue around the crown, eagerly accepting my prize. An audible groan of pleasure resonated from deep inside his body.

Using one hand to manipulate his shaft, I reached for his swollen testicles with his other and massaged them gently. I was firmly planted on my knees staring up at him as my mouth continued to play over his cock in an extremely erotic fashion, putting on a little show for my soon-to-be-husband. i swallowed more and more of his erection and gradually picked up the tempo. I felt his hand in my hair. Gripping it and pulling it tighter. He wanted me to stop. I slowly pulled back and away from his cock.

He pulled me up to my feet and I went to the bed and slid under the covers. Jeff crawled into bed with me and in between my legs kissing my neck. He took it slow entering me. I I traced my hand down his chest admiring his body. He was so perfect. We fit together like an ideal match. I belonged with him. His strokes came long and deliberate. My free hand reached down to manipulate my clit. I began rotating and bucking my hips onto him.

"Oh God, Xerxes!" Jeff moaned. My whimpering and moaning mixed with his moans. He leaned down over me a little clenching his eyes shut and I could feel myself shivering around his cock as we came together. After Jeff gingerly pulled out of me I rolled over onto him kissing his jawline, his neck. I rested my head on his chest as he wrapped his strong arms around me. I listened to the hollow nothings in his chest. I wasn't exactly sure if my heart was beating just this loud or if it was his that I was hearing. That couldn't be in. Jeff was...dead.

"I can hear your heart." I said quietly. He didn't respond to me immediately. He simply held me a little tighter and stroked my hair.

"Being with you...brings me back to life. If not for a long time, at least for a minute." He answered. I leaned up straddling him and I intertwined our hands.

"I'm so happy we're getting married."

"The feeling is mutual." He said smiling lightly.

"No. Say it. Say, 'Xerxes I can't wait to take say I do'." I teased.

"Xerxes...I can't wait...to say 'I do'." He told me.

"Thank you."

"I also can't wait...to start our own little family." He said next. That feeling of guilt came rushing back forcing its way to the pit of my stomach. It just sat that teasing me, laughing at me as if it had just won some terrible war.

"Family?" I said almost choking on the word.

"I want us to have the perfect life. Not a lot of kids. Maybe two or three. I want at least one little boy. I'd name him...Donovan. It means warrior. He'd be my little warrior." Son. He wanted a son. I couldn't do this.

"Jeff I have to tell you something. Just...promise you won't get mad." I said.

"Oh dammit." He sighed. "The last time you got like this I found out you had an affair."

"I'm sorry." I said. "Um..when I went to the hospital today, I saw a doctor."

"Look at me." He said turning my face to his. "What is it? What's wrong?"

"Jeff he...I'm pregnant, but I can't say whether the baby is yours or Lucas'."


	12. Making Amends

Turning Tables

Disclaimer: We all know that I am not lucky enough to own Jeff Hardy or anyone else..just Xerxes and the OC(s).

Chapter 12: Making Amends

…...

Jeff and I had been having this ongoing stare off for hours now. My eyes burned and were drooping. My head was pounding and my heart ached so much. I felt like it was coming. The end. The complete, absolute, end of us. He'd get mad at me eventually and say something. God I wanted him to say something. I felt like shit and anything lower and worse than that.

"Please speak to me Jeff." I asked again for the fifth time that night. He sat in silence not speaking. He just looked at me with eyes that never turned away.

"You want me to speak." He said finally.

"Yes." I nodded.

"And what do you want me to say? That I'm ecstatic? Do you want me to run over and kiss you too?" He said lowly.

"Jeff, I just-"

"If you think for one minute that I'm going to embrace the fact that you may be having his baby then it's not happening. I'm not going to pride the fact that you fucked him and didn't use protection. You won't me to smile and be happy for you, but have you ever stopped to think how this is affecting me? I have to live with the stupid decisions you made Xerxes. If that kid is his I'm gonna have to look your betrayal in it's face every day til I can't do it anymore."

I looked at him narrowing my eyes and cursing myself because the eye movement hurt. What the hell did he mean 'until he can't do it anymore'? As far as I'm concerned this was my baby, he didn't have to stay if he didn't want to. I loved Jeff and of course I felt bad about what happened, but I was getting sick and tired of his attitude.

"Jeff stop." I said sharply. "Look, I know I fucked up okay, but I am getting sick and tired of you bullying me about it! I haven't been tip toeing on just egg shells Jeff. I've been tip toeing on glass, I've been running through flames, Jeff I've been doing anything and everything to keep you happy with me, but I don't know what to do anymore!" I yelled as the tears spilled on my flushed cheeks.

"I'm not saying you don't have a right to be mad at me, but dammit won't you just forgive me already? I think I'm suffering just as much as you are." I looked at my left hand and ogled the beautiful engagement ring that he'd given me only hours ago. He'd probably want that back now. I hesitated and brought a shaky hand up to slide the ring off. I held it in my tightly closed fist and walked over to him.

"Jeff." I started. "I love you. I'll always love you. But I can't do this anymore. I'm only human." I kissed his cold cheek one quick time as I sat the ring on the table and left.

…...

I woke up the next morning with a certain longing. A longing for her that I feared would never be filled the same way again. Why the hell did this happen to me? Dammit why couldn't I just be optimistic about it? I've got a 50/50 chance. I should've been happy for her. I reached over and picked up the little object of my affection that she'd given back to me last night. I sighed squeezing it lightly in the palm of my hand.

The delightful aroma filled my nostrils. At least she hadn't left. I set the ring on the nightstand and got out of bed, heading to the shower. When I got out I threw on some clothes and walked down the hall. Xerxes had her hair tied up in a messy ponytail. She bore a plain white tank top and some grey sweatpants. I could see that looked tired and worn out. I'd never seen her so...disheveled.

"I made you breakfast." She said. She carelessly placed a plate full of food on the counter and then began down the steps.

"Aren't you going to eat?" I asked her. She ignored my question and kept on her way. I let her go. No need pressing it. I sat down to my plate. It looked like some kind of oatmeal in casserole form with a side of scrambled eggs and orange juice. I dug in while thinking to myself. What the hell was I going to do? I was pissed with her, but it was so hard to stay that way. I didn't want to lose her. I just needed to compromise.

_'No. You just need to balls up and get the fuck over it.' Rowan said._

_'Thanks for the comforting words...really helpful.' I thought sarcastically. _

_'Jeff, I've always been an honest man no matter how brutal I choose to be about it. You're so stuck on Heidi that you can't move on. Don't be that person who dwells on shit that's not going to change...especially if you have the power to change it but won't.' _

_'If I changed everything bad that happened to me then I'd be a man with no life experience. Don't wanna live that way.' I said. _

_'Then suck it the fuck up, be a man, and claim your woman. Hold her and kiss her, tell her you love her and that things will get better.' _

_'When the hell did you become soft?' I huffed._

_'She's the soul keeper of my soul mate. Of course I want you two back together.' _

_'Isn't someone selfish?' I asked the warlock._

_'Selfish? Me? Yes, but look who's talking. Using such an abused and innocent soul just so you can have a crown. We're equals Jeff.'_

…...

Tessa and I were at the shop painting the walls. We'd both decided that if any change happened it'd just be something we could do without tearing down stuff. I was glad to have Tessa in this with me. Owning half of the business. It would really come in handy when it came time for me to have the baby.

"So." Tessa said. "You haven't said a word to me since we got here. It's my turn to question what I did wrong." I sighed. I was such a jerk. I'd been neglecting Tessa and now she felt like it was her fault.

"It's not you Tess. I just-I'm so tired. Jeff and I were up really late last night."

"Forget I asked." She said smirking.

"No, it's not like that. I mean it-it started out like that. He proposed to me and we made love and then...I told him I was...pregnant." I could feel these God forsaken tears again. "Then I told him he might not be the father." I had to stop painting for a moment to breathe and pull myself together.

"Oh my." Tessa said. She was at a loss for words and I couldn't blame her.

"How did I get so low Tess?" I asked. "And the why the fuck do I cry so much?!" I yelled getting angry with myself. I hadn't realized it until I pulled my hand back, but I'd appeared to have punched a hole in the wall.

"Dammit." I said looking at my hand. It didn't hurt. It was just dusty.

"Sweetheart it's okay. You're just frustrated and you don't know what to do with yourself right now. You're hurting." She said hugging me immediately.

"I don't even wanna talk about it right now." I said. "I just...I'm gonna go get some spackle and stuff to fix the wall." I told her. I was half dazed and still staring at the hole. How had I of all the weak people in the world managed to make that.

"Actually, I think maybe we should go see Mr. Keinz." Tessa said. Well this was strange. It wasn't a school day. It was going to be awkward seeing him outside of class.

"Why?" I asked her.

"Xerxes you just punched a hole in a wall. A very _thick_ wall. You're strong Xerx, but not that strong. I think maybe you're getting your full powers finally."

…...

I was right. It was weird seeing Mr. Keinz outside of school. His house was big and on private land like ours...like Jeff's. Tessa smiled as she stared at me. We sat in silence in the study as we waited on Keinz to return to the room. I was so nervous. I knew he was a teacher of magic, but I didn't see how he was going to help me. Did I even need help?

"Relax." Tessa said placing a hand on my knee. I nodded at her and we both looked at the door as it opened. Mr. Keinz entered carrying a food tray with three mugs on it. He sat it down on the table and sat across from us.

"I'm glad you girls came to me." He said offering us each a cup. "It's tea." We accepted our cups and thanked him. I sipped on the tea before setting it in my lap.

"I don't understand why I'm here exactly. No offense or anything." I admitted.

"Well, I'm no fool Xerxes, I know that you're having a slight difficulty with your sponsors right now so they won't be of any use to you. Who's the next best person to turn to?" He said. So I guess he had a point there. Jeff hated me and wouldn't speak to me and Lucas was unable to speak. They were useless to me right now.

"So what happens now? What do I do?" I asked.

"Now, we perform your ritual." He told me.

"Ritual?" I asked. Tessa nodded next to me.

"Everyone goes through it at some point. It's to bring forth the magic you possess. Or, if you're a vampire like me then it's to help shed your baby layer. To become a full fledged vampire." She explained.

"Okay. How does this ritual work?" I asked them.

"We'll set you up in a room. You'll be on a table with white candles all around you. We will call forth your magical spirit. It's a very simple thing, but before you go off the deep end please do understand, we don't associate these rituals with satanism at all. It's just a way to help process the magic or shedding easily." He said. I had to admit I was a little worried about satanism being tacked to this, but I guess it was a little comforting knowing it wasn't. I loved God and I always would.

"When does this happen?" I asked.

"It can happen either today or tomorrow. I'll do it during class if you like. The other students can go to the field and spar. Either way it has to happen soon. Holding it off just makes it more difficult for you." Keinz said. I really wasn't looking forward to this today. It also sounded like an event that I'd want Jeff there for. I'd try for tomorrow. Plus I wasn't feeling good. I had nausea like a bitch.

"I have some questions for you." He said. I nodded. "How have you been feeling lately? Have strange things been happening to you?" I sat and pondered this question. Surely he didn't know I was pregnant and I'm almost positive those feelings had nothing to do with this...I hoped.

"Well, ever since I got this amulet...I've been hearing a voice. She talks to me a lot. Pretty annoying. My head started hurting then too and hasn't stopped since, plus my vision has been getting extremely good. Too good for comfort." Mr. Keinz nodded at me.

"The voice you here is Valkyrie. She's trying to communicate with you. You're headache is probably a side affect from all the stress, but the eyesight increase is definitely something. Who knows, maybe after the ritual you'll find out you can see things everyone else can't. Or that you can see through thick objects."

"Like walls?" I asked. He nodded. So that was pretty cool. "Mr. Keinz, thanks for helping me, but I think I'm going to wait til tomorrow. I just don't wanna have to do this alone." I told him.

"Of course, I understand. Just call me if you change your mind. I'll hear you." He winked at me and I smiled back at him. He was always my favorite teacher. He was so nice and calm about everything. Tessa and I stood and I took her hand in mine. I let out a neutral breath of air and blinked us away. We were at Tessa's house. I'd rarely even been here, but I enjoyed the times that I did come. Plus, I didn't want to be around Jeff so he could continue to bully me. The less I was there, the less he could.

…...

"So when is the paternity test?" Taeler asked me.

"Tomorrow after she gets out of school. I won't be here." I said. Taeler and I were at the gym. I'd decided to call her up and hang out with her so I could take my mind off of Xerxes, but all she'd done while we were here was talk about her.

"I'm dead positive you're the father. You have to be, you and her have had sex more times than she and Lucas." She nodded.

"It only takes one time. You being a female should be saying that to me." I chuckled.

"Jeff. If it turns out that she's pregnant with his baby, they may not let you two marry in the council." Taeler panted. She had a point. If the council got word of her carrying a spawn that didn't belong to me, they won't let us get married there. My father may be the king, but it wasn't a vampire thing. It was a warlock thing. Like the holiest of ceremonies for them. He wouldn't go around that.

"Then again maybe we don't have to marry there." I said slowing coming down from the pull-up bar.

"Well I mean, it is the twenty first century, and I don't think Xerxes will be completely down with that type of ceremony anyways. She might want something modern." Taeler said pulling-up.

"That is if we're still getting married." I reminded her as I pulled back up.

"Oh yea. Right. Just talk to her. I'm sure she'll forgive you." Taeler flashed me a quick smile and then dropped to the ground.

"C'mon time to hit the mills." She said. I nodded and followed her over to the long row of treadmills. I always hated these things. If I wanted to run, I'd do it myself.

"I have to fix this before tonight is over." I told her.

"Oh I know you do. And you will. Just sit her down and explain to her why it was so hard, be gentle and nice about it, then tell her you're over it." Taeler said.

"You think she'll listen?" I asked.

"I think we're going to have a modern wedding." She said almost out of breath. Working out with Taeler was hilarious. I didn't usually lose my breath doing anything, but she always did and it was hilarious. That reminded me, I still had to address what happened last night before all the bad crap.

"So uh...I had a heartbeat for a very brief moment last night." I confessed. I turned my head and watched Taeler's smile grow and her eyes widen...and then she fell of the mill and rolled on the floor a bit.

"Are you okay?" I asked going to check on her.

"Yea I am!" She said despite the nose bleed. "Jeff this is great!" I took a hold of her arm and pulled her from the floor.

"C'mon I think it's time to go." I insisted.

"Jeff. A heartbeat." She whispered. "She must really mean a lot more than we thought. It's final. You can't let her go now." I grabbed our bags and put her towel to her nose while she continued blabbing.

"Taeler I hear you and your point is well taken." I told her. "Can we please just worry about getting out of here and stopping your nose bleed."

"Why in such a hurry? I've bled around you before. You handle it fairly well. I never told you about that one guy. Christopherson. Yea. He jumped at me when I cut my cheek."

"Actually you did tell me, I just didn't care that much. No offense."

"Whatever." She said as we reached the car. "So what's with the rush then?"

"I've been craving lately." I admitted starting the car up.

"Really? You haven't...killed anyone have you? I did hear there was a body found last week. It was shot, but still."

"No Taeler. I haven't done it..yet." I said.

"Yet?" I nodded at her.

"I can't just ignore it and it's not going away. Animals aren't cutting it anymore."

"So who are you gonna eat?" She asked me.

"Haven't thought of that yet. I'll find someone. Don't worry." I told her.

"Too late."

…...

Eventually I'd left Tessa's house and went to Mercy. I was sitting with Lucas. He'd had some good news. He could talk again. His voice wasn't booming, but it was kicking. He was so happy and he couldn't wait for the paternity test. I was happy to be around Lucas, at least he cared. At least he showed some excitement.

"So how did Jeff react?" He asked.

"He wasn't thrilled. We got into a fight." I told him.

"He didn't hit you did he?" He asked me.

"No. He just yelled at me." I stood up moving around the little room. I played with some of the flowers Lucas had received.

"Xerxes, you need to stop letting him treat you that way." Lucas sighed.

"I told him to stop bullying me Lucas, don't worry." I reassured him.

"So just because you tell him to do something now he does it? Xerx I know my brother. He isn't that easy to push over he-"

"Lucas. I can handle myself okay, stop trying to always be my savior and everything else. You are _just_ my friend and that is it. Jeff is...he's my boyfriend Lucas. The relationship is between he and I, not you, me, and him." I hated talking to Lucas that way, but he needed to understand that this wasn't a three way.

"You're right." He said after while.

"Lucas I'm sorry I just-"

"Maybe you should go." Great. Now I'd pissed off someone else.

"Right. I'll talk to you later I guess." I told him. He didn't say bye or anything. Just stared out of the window. I left shutting the door behind me quietly. I felt so bad now.

As I was walking to the elevator to go checkout in the lobby I saw her again. The same girl who glared at me in the elevator the first time I came here. She was a beautiful girl. I wondered why she hated me, I wondered why she came here so often. Did she have a friend or family here? Most likely. Maybe her boyfriend was here. She saw me and of course glared at me again. I decided to talk to her. Ask her what her problem was...other than the obvious. She had no reason to hate on me after all. She was just like everyone else, getting wrapped up in shit that didn't involve her.

"Hey!" I called walking speedily up to her. The girl turned around and looked at me with piercing pink eyes. You wouldn't think pink eyes were piercing, but she made it work.

"What?" She asked me.

"Do you have a problem with me? Every time you see me, you glare at me." I said confronting her.

"You wanna know what my problem with you is? Ask your boyfriend." And that was all she said before disappearing into a puff of dust. Ask my boyfriend? What the hell did Jeff have to do with anything?

…...

I had cooked dinner since Xerxes hadn't come home. I thought maybe she'd just be a little late. It was almost midnight. I got a little relieved when I heard the door open and shut. Then I heard her bedroom door do the same thing. If I wanted to talk to her I was gonna have to make the first move.

_'Good luck wimp.' _I ignored the asshole in my head and knocked lightly on her door.

"Go away. I'm sleeping." I heard. I rolled my eyes entering the room. She turned and scowled at me.

"What the fuck, I said I was sleeping!" She exclaimed.

"You don't look like your sleeping to me." I said.

"Well I was about to take a shower and you're aggravating me. What do you want now?" She asked.

"Xerxes we need to talk." I said sitting on the couch.

"There's nothing to talk about anymore." She said.

"Yes there is. Xerx please. I don't wanna argue. I just want to sit down and have a reasonable conversation with you." I told her.

"Can it at least wait til I get out of the shower?" She said.

"Xerxes." I said adding some firmness to my voice.

"Fine." She huffed. She sat on the opposite end of the couch and stared ahead of her. My eye twitched and I had to force myself not to roll it. I scooted closer to her and played with her hair.

"Don't touch me." She said.

"Xerxes please. I'm sorry okay."

"You can't just apologize to me whenever you want sex. It doesn't work that way."

"Well that's not what I'm doing. I really am sorry. For bullying you. For not being happy about the baby. I'm sorry for calling you out of name. I'm sorry for hitting you. I'm sorry for embarrassing you in front of Spud. I'm sorry for attacking Lucas. I'm sorry for everything." I said truthfully.

"I can understand you being hurt, but you went overboard." She said still not looking at me.

"Alright. Look, I want you to imagine that you were in my shoes. That you once had a fiance who ran off with some loser while you were waiting at the alter. Then you met someone who promised not to do that, not to cheat...and then does it and winds up having a kid that might belong to someone else." I told her. I could see the look of sadness on her face.

"Every time I say sorry you reject it." She said shaking a little.

"I know and I was wrong. We were both wrong, but I don't wanna fight anymore." I told her. "I want us to be happy together. I still want us to be a family." I held out my palm to her and conjured up the ring.

"You still want me to marry you?" She asked.

"Of course I do." I whispered kissing her cheek. "We're gonna have your dream wedding."

"Really?" She said picking it up. I laid my head against her cheek and nodded.

"I promise."

"Can we have doves fly when we kiss?" She asked.

"You can have anything you want. You even get a crown." I told her.

"A crown?"

"Xerxes, by the time you marry me you're going to be a queen." She turned to face me resting her forehead against mine. I pulled her into my lap wrapping my arms around my waist.

"Jeff, yes, I'll still marry you. I'll be your wife and tonight I want you to make love to me the way a king does to his queen."

…...

**A/N Okay, sorry for the long time update! I had a crap lot of stuff to do and a bit of writers block. At least Jeff and Xerxes are finally on the same page! Tomorrow Xerx goes back to school and you know what happens after that! Who do you think the father is? Read and Review for me guys! Love you!**


	13. Rituals

Turning Tables

Disclaimer: We all know that I am not lucky enough to own Jeff Hardy or anyone else..just Xerxes and the OC(s).

Chapter 13: Rituals

…...

I was sad to find out that Jeff was leaving this morning. Meant he wouldn't be there with me for this ritual thing and for the test. I had been vomiting all morning. Nerves. I was shaky. I had thoughts of just never getting the test and going on living like it was his without a doubt. Nah, I couldn't do that to him. I stepped out of the shower and tightly wrapped a towel around my body.

My hair had scrunched up into tiny little natural curls. I sighed. I really didn't feel like straightening or curling my hair, but I refused to work with this disaster. I blew dry my hair and threw in some loose curls. I put my face on and dressed myself in a tan fashion tank top, some white skinnies, a light blue blazer and some white lace oxfords.

"Daily outfit check." I said. Usually I would go to the oh great Instagram with this, but I didn't feel like it today. I grabbed my purse and my books and left to Mystic. I hadn't been there in a while. I was expecting a cold return, but I was very delighted by what I saw. People didn't rush me and ask me what happened between Jeff and I. They didn't whisper about the fight. They didn't stare at me awkward like. No one seemed to care. I liked it that way.

"Hey." Tessa said falling into step next to me.

"Hey Tess." I said smiling at her.

"Last night I couldn't sleep. My dad made me mad so I went to the shop and I fixed up that hole and finished painting. Then I went online and looked at some furniture and stuff. I found a lot of cute stuff, we can go over them at lunch if you want." She said in one unnecessary breath.

"Really thanks so much Tess. Lunch will be fine and what happened with your dad?" I asked trying to take some of the worry off of me.

"He's just overreacting about the shop. He doesn't want me growing up so fast." She said shaking her head.

"You're a vampire...you'll spend the rest of eternity growing up." I told her.

"Exactly! Anyways, I'll see you later. I spy with my little eye a very very cute guy." She said smiling hard.

"Cute? Tessa are you crushing on someone?" I grinned.

"Yes. We'll discuss that at lunch too, before I go, is Jeff coming for your ritual today?" She asked.

"He doesn't know about it. I didn't tell him." I confessed.

"Why?" She whined.

"He's gotta go to work Tess." I told her.

"Xerxes, he can be here and there at the same time. You should've told him." She sighed.

"I guess. I'll think about it okay? Now go talk to your guy." I smirked.

"Wish me luck! Oh and good luck!" She called strutting off.

"Good luck!" I called after her. I stopped walking and leaned against a nearby wall watching her. Tessa deserved a boyfriend. The guy wasn't that bad looking either. He was a dirty blonde guy with short hair. He had dimples and fair skin.

"Xerxes." I heard. I looked behind me as Mr. Keinz came and stood next to me.

"Hello Mr. Keinz." I said smiling at him.

"Hello. I assume I'll be sending the class to the field today for class?" He smiled.

"Yea. Guess so. Can I ask you something?" He nodded at me.

"Well, I didn't tell Jeff about the ritual because he's going for TNA today and I didn't want it to distract him..should I have told him?" I asked.

"Hm, if I were in his shoes, I would definitely have appreciated knowing. You could always tell him now. I'm sure he'll understand." He told me.

"Alright then. Thanks Mr. Keinz. See you for third." I told him waving as I walked off. I'd call Jeff later.

…...

"Rooming together was the best idea I ever came up with." I said.

"Taeler I don't see how you staying with me is going to prevent me from biting someone. If I wanna do it, I'm going to do it. I was thinking about tonight actually." Jeff confessed. I really didn't want Jeff to do this. What if it wasn't a one time thing? What if it happened again? He'd really regret this later...I guess.

"Jeff, does Xerxes know about this?" I asked him

"Why is it that every time we talk it's always about her? I love her but damn, I'd like to have a non Xerxes based conversation once in a while." He said. I could sense his frustration. I had so many more questions to ask him, but they'd have to wait til later.

"Okay, so Rob is coming over in a few minutes. Be nice to him." I said.

"Why wouldn't I be? Aren't you two tired of each other yet?" He asked.

"That's why you wouldn't be. You don't like him." I accused.

"No. I just don't know how you're with him. He's so...Taeler he danced in the ring." He frowned.

"Jeff, you danced too...you dance a lot. No, you don't dance you hump the air." I laughed.

"But I can do that. I'm Jeff Hardy! I can do whatever I want. Besides, I never stomped the ground and then humped the mat."

"Well if you ask me, I think he looked damn good humping that mat." I said twirling my hair as I thought of other things he looked good humping.

"You're gross." Jeff chuckled. A hard knock on the door put a smile on my face. The both of us stood and race for the door. Jeff beat me.

"Stop it! He's my company." I frowned.

"I don't care. This is my room." He smirked. I crossed my arms and stood back while he opened the door.

"Hey there Rob." He smiled.

"Um hi Jeff." Rob said slowly. "I thought this was Taeler's room."

"It's mine. We're rooming together. She's babysitting me." Jeff said.

"Hi Rob! I'm babysitting!" I exclaimed smiling. Jeff moved aside and let Rob inside. He moved towards me kissing me quickly.

"Babysitting huh? Well then I guess I'll just have to wait to celebrate our being back together." He said kissing my neck.

"Rob stop. Jeff's watching." I giggled.

"Well what can I say? I missed you."

"Sounds like someone wants to be, balls deep." Jeff said with a smug look on his face.

"Jeff, isn't it nap time for you?" I asked glaring at him.

"I won't be able to sleep if you're up screaming. _If_ you're up screaming." He said.

"Jeffrey!" I snapped.

"Ah don't worry." He laughed. "I'm leaving anyways."

"Where are you going?" I frowned.

"To mind my business." He said leaving. As soon as that door shut I began to freak out. What if he was doing it now? What if we were missing a fellow wrestler tomorrow!?

"Rob I should probably go with Jeff. I'll talk to you later. Bye!" I hurried out the door trying to catch up to the younger Hardy before Rob could say anything. I would stay by Jeff's side today for as long as I could.

…...

"Tae? What are you doing, you know your boyfriend is waiting for you right?" I asked as I watched the tiny red head fight with the elevator doors.

"Yea well I actually like all my co-workers." She said.

"You think I'd bite one of them?" I asked frowning. "I'm not crazy."

"I just wanna be there with you when you do it so that I can make sure it's someone who probably deserves it." She nodded.

"Okay well you shouldn't be there unless you want to be next." I told her.

"You're so mean to me." Taeler said pouting in the corner. The elevator stopped on the second floor and the doors opened allowing a blonde to step in. She looked at me, around the elevator, back at me and then stood against the wall in silence.

"Awkward!" Taeler sang. I sighed shaking my head at the woman.

"Taeler." I said.

"Hi Taryn! How are you today?" She asked ignoring me. Taryn smiled at her briefly nodding her head.

"I'm fine...how are you?"

"Oh we're doing just great yea. Jeff and I were just going to grab a bite to eat. Right Jeff?" Taeler said.

"Sure Taeler. Would you like to come with Taryn?" I offered.

"Me? Really?" She asked seeming a little uncertain.

"Yea." I could see why she was confused. After all the last time we talked it wasn't the greatest of exchanges.

"Um, I appreciate the offer but I don't think that's a great idea if you're still with Carsey or whoever." She said flipping her hair.

"I'm not with Carsey. I completely forgot about her. I am however engaged to Xerxes." I told her.

"They're having a-" I covered Taeler's mouth before she could spill any dirty secrets that were better kept buried.

"We're having a beautiful wedding." I said.

"That's great." She said as the elevator doors opened.

"I'll see you guys at the house show tonight." She said. The girl walked quickly out of the elevator to her escape and I removed my hand from Taeler's mouth.

"Why would do that?" She frowned.

"Because, I don't want everyone knowing my business." I told her.

"I can't believe you actually invited her with us. I'm proud of you." Taeler grinned.

"It was either I do it or you do it." I shrugged as we left the elevator.

"So where are we going to eat?" She asked me.

"I didn't know that's what we were doing, but let's go see what the hot spots in San Fran are."

…...

Second period was over and I still hadn't talked to Jeff. I was going to a nice sandwich shop with Tessa for lunch. I was so hungry. Mainly because I was freaking out. It was a little ways across the campus lot that was full of every other student at Mystic. We all had a forty-five minute lunch. The teachers took this time for their own lunch and any quick emergency meetings.

"Xerx I hope you don't mind, but I invited Wayne to eat with us." Tessa said as we went through the line.

"Yea that's fine. So how long have you and Wayne known each other?" I asked her. I picked up a sandwich with fried egg, avocado, bacon, cream cheese, green onions and tomatoes and a side of carrots, celery, and a virgin peach daiquiri. Tessa went for an Italian Club sandwich french fries, and the same drink.

"I met him last year when I joined the academy, but we never really talked til now." She said as we found a table.

"Why not?" I asked her.

"He had a girlfriend. Do you know her? Her name is Kennedy Shaw." She told me.

"Never met her. What's she look like?" I asked.

"You've probably seen her around school and just don't know it. She has really long brown hair. Tan skin, nice boobs, but kind of a small but and she has pink eyes. Not the infection, but literal pink eyes." She said.

"Oh my gosh. I know her! Sort of. She told me to ask Jeff why she hates me." I said.

"Hey Tess." It was the blonde from earlier. Tessa smiled at him and scooted over allowing him to sit next to her.

"Hi Wayne. This is my friend Xerxes." Tessa said motioning to me.

"Hi there. Nice to meet you Xerxes." He said.

"Same to you." I smiled. Wayne's eyes looked like fluorescent piss. Other than that he was nice looking.

"Okay Xerxes. Pull that phone out and call Jeff." Tessa said.

"Jeff? Oh yea, you're that one girl who..well you know." Wayne said. I was quite surprised that he just waved it off like that. I picked up my drink and took a sip thinking. I guess she was right. It was now or never. I pulled out me cell and dialed Jeff's number quickly. Geez, what if he was busy?

"_Hey what's up?" _He said.

"Hi. You're not busy are you?" I asked.

"_I could always find a way out if I was." _He told me.

"Right well, I'm supposed to be having a ritual today? Next period and um. . .I really don't wanna do it alone." I sighed.

"_Why didn't you tell me yesterday?" _He asked.

"I didn't wanna interrupt with your job." I said biting my celery. I watched Tessa and Wayne talk quietly amongst themselves. They looked nice together I guessed.

"_You aren't interrupting anything. I'll be there. I promise." _

"Thanks Jeff. I love you." I told him.

"_I love you too Xerx." _I hung up with him and focused more on my food. That was easier than I thought. One less thing to worry about.

"Do you wanna see the furniture I liked for the shop?" Tessa offered.

"Yea definitely!" I said. She handed me her phone and I scrolled through the pictures looking at all the pretty stuff. Tessa had picked out booths and tables from a variety of neutral colors to crazy fun colors. There were different types of menu options. From individuals to a blackboard menu.

"I really like these ideas Tess. You should come over later and we'll make final decisions and start ordering or conjuring or whatever. Send me the pics though."

"Will do. I'm happy Jeff's coming. I'll be there too. I've never seen a ritual, only heard of them." She said.

"You haven't had yours yet?" I asked.

"Nope. My dad had a wizard put an absolute halt on my vamp days til I turned 18. He didn't want me to be too young or too old." She said biting into her sandwich. Speaking of wizards reminded me about the books I'd checked out. I still needed to check those back in. I'd been writing down and photocopying spells and stuff from there since I got it. Maybe after today I'd try one.

…...

This ritual set up was pretty creepy. Jeff made it just in time. Tessa stood next to him in a corner. The dean was also here as was Troen and of course Mr. Keinz. When I first got there I was told to drink what I figured was a potion and now I was laying on an old table with some weird language carved into it. Several white candles surrounded me. The room was void of light except for the tiny flickering flames. Troen, Keinz, and the dean were all dressed in a black attire.

"Relax child." The dean said placing her hands on either side of my head. It didn't stop my eyes from wandering around the room in a frenzy. I was having serious second thoughts about this. I strained to watch Troen as he approached me with a velvety blanket. He draped it over my body. My eyelids began feeling heavy and my breathing slowly calmed.

"Xerxes, child of the heavens, daughter of the ancient and holy spirit." Wow. My body started feeling like puddy. Squishy and weightless.

"Valkyrie. Goddess of all witches and mother of all covens." I slowly opened my eyes and saw that I was in a white room. There was only one other person in there with me. She was beautiful. A ghostly figure.

"_Are you Valkyrie?" I asked. My voice echoed off the blank walls in this room._

"_You truly are a beautiful soul." The woman's came in raspy strides. She smiled at me and extended her hand. I reached out to her accepting it. _

"_What is this place? Am I dead...again?" I asked her._

"_Oh no little one. You're now more alive than you ever have been. This is the part of the ritual where we come together." She informed me._

"_Oh. How does that work?" I asked. Valkyrie didn't say anything. She just turned and began walking down a narrow hall taking me with her. _

"_Do you live here?" I asked next._

"_Yes, this is where I've spent my afterlife. Waiting centuries for your birth. Then for this day." She said._

"_You were waiting for my birth? You knew we'd be um doing this?" I asked. I was so very confused._

"_Not you exactly, but the birth of someone strong enough to carry me within them. Someone strong enough to use my powers at their will." She said._

"_Sorry, but I'm not that strong." I sighed._

"_Oh but you are. You've been through hell for the past few years and look at you now, preparing to take on some of the most powerful magic a witch could ever offer." She told me. I guess in a way she was right. When my father died, my mother was a complete wreck. It was me caring for her solely when it should've been half and half. When we fell on hard times and almost lost our house, it was me working late nights and early mornings trying to rake in extra cash to help with the bills. After my best friend betrayed me, I could've just let my spirit go and never think on it again, but I stayed. I clung to Earth and every bit of life that I could and I fought to get the justice I deserved. I guess in a way I was strong._

"_What all would I be taking on?"_

"_Well, since I've been here I've been getting stronger. Not only will you have control over electricity, but you'll also have power over fire. Levitation, time, as you've already figured extreme vision." She listed._

"_Wow. I'm going to be unstoppable aren't I?" I couldn't help the smile that slid across my face at this moment. _

"_Yes. Of course there is one person who you'll match up to." She told me._

"_Jeff." I said knowing this already._

"_You two are equals. Just like my beloved Rowan and I." I watched her hand come up to her heart and she smiled ahead of her. Some deep love they had. _

"_Can you tell me what happened between you two?" I asked._

"_Maybe later, but right now. Your ritual is coming to an end and you need to enter the water." She told me. I looked in front of me and for the first time saw a blue lake. I looked back at her. She nodded for me to go. I let go of her hand and walked towards the water. I was nervous, but something about it just felt right. It was cold and thick. I'd say this was hardly water. Once waist deep I turned to look at Valkyrie once more, but she was gone. It was me now. Me and the elements of my being that were slowly embracing me. The deeper I sank into the blue the more confident I felt about this. _

_The ritual wasn't something to be scared of. It was something so beautiful and peaceful. Something that one would have to experience first hand to really see the magic within it. It was like looking into the eyes of your loved one at your first wedding. Holding your first born child. Two things I'd be doing soon in my life. Two things that after this I was ready to embrace head on._

…...

I was waiting impatiently in Jeff's locker room with his clone. Why these things were called clones I had no idea. This Jeff was nice. He was charming and a gentleman. My Jeff was rude and an asshole.

"Taeler you really shouldn't worry yourself. I'm sure all is well and I will be back soon." He smiled.

"Shut up! Gosh you're so different." I frowned. I guess I liked that Jeff so much better.

"I apologize. Did I irritate you?" He asked.

"No, I'm sorry. It's not you. I just wish I could've gone to the ritual too." I sighed sitting next to him.

"I'm sorry. Do you want a hug?" He offered.

"I just want cookies." I sighed.

"Almond?" He handed me an almond cookie and I gratefully accepted it. I bit down into the cookie watching the clock. Jeff's match was soon.

"If he's not back in time, you're gonna have to go out there for him." I said taking another bite.

"Yes ma'am. I'm all set and ready." He smiled.

"Ugh, you're so sweet." I said placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Well the original Jeff is...cruel. Being a clone, I mainly show off his alter ego. His nice side. My brother shows off his lazy side. And my other brother shows off his sad side. You should see it. It's really funny."

"You know, if you cut off all your hair, shaved you beard, took out all your piercings, removed your tattoos and changed your name you could find a girl to love you." I told him.

"Thanks Taeler. His match is now. I guess I should get out there." He said standing up. I stood and hugged him.

"Good luck...Cole." I said.

"Cole?"

"Yep. That's your new name."

"I like it."

…...

I knew I should've probably gone back to the arena, but I couldn't go. I needed to be alone. I needed to be alone and think about my next step.

_'I'm very sorry but..the DNA isn't a match.' _That kept ringing in my head. It was dark and I was in a dark alley trying to control my anger. Trying not to jump off the handle. I'd pretended like things were okay still. Like I was fine with the results.

I wasn't. I was torn into. Everything I wanted right now. He had. I don't know if I could do this. That kid should be mine. I could hear laughter from a ways away. It was getting closer. It was a girl. God I didn't need to be around people right now. I walked to the end of the alley looking around. It was empty out except for me and her. This girl with strawberry blonde hair. She was highly intoxicated and her blue hazed over.

"Oh San Francisco." She said to aloud to herself. "I'm back! Not for forever, but well..you know."

_'Dumb bitch.' _I thought to myself.

Something about her made me curious though. I waited in the dark of that alley for her to pass me before I followed her. She almost fell a few times, but she kept going and so did I. What was it about her? Then slowly all it once it seeped into my brain.

"Tania!" I stopped in my tracks waiting for a response. She turned around to face me in her drunken stupor.

"Who the hell are you?"

…...

**A/N Extremely long chapter, I know, but it's worth it! Poor Jeff or poor Tania? What's she doing in San Francisco? I'm glad Xerxes finally has her magic and now that she does there will be a lot more supernatural in the story. Anyways R&R!**


	14. Let's Talk Anything

Turning Tables

Disclaimer: We all know that I am not lucky enough to own Jeff Hardy or anyone else..just Xerxes and the OC(s).

Chapter 14: Let's Talk Anything

…...

Tessa and I were sitting at a table in the shop early in the morning making little goody take out bags. We had picked out the furniture we wanted for Le Gourmet. That's the name we both decided on. The both of us were so eager and we couldn't wait to get the stuff so instead of ordering it we'd taken the easy way out.

We'd decided to do something cozy and playful. We had colorful tables next to the windows and colorful and striped futon like booths around the center of the room. There were big, comfortable cube chairs with various designs on them and wooden chairs with different color legs. We had lights over some of the tables with little square boxes that had holes poked out over them. We'd gone with a chalkboard menu and some other crafty stuff. Chalkboard mugs for the little kids. I was really liking this.

"Maybe we should do edible business cards." Tessa said.

"That would be a really big hit!" I exclaimed. I was so excited.

"Hey, when Lucas gets home do you think he could help us?" Tessa asked. Suddenly my excitement faltered and I felt down and sick again. It was a week ago that Jeff and I had received the bad news. Jeff had been on the road all week. He was really upset. Even if he didn't show it I just knew he was.

"I don't know if having Lucas around so soon is the greatest idea." I nodded. Lucas was getting out of Mercy soon and every part of me that was excited for that was now gone. As far as I was concerned, he and I would be strictly for anything baby related. That was it.

"Right. Sorry." She said.

"It's fine. Maybe Wayne could help us. Or your sister." I said.

"Tamara is moving back here, I totally forgot that." She said.

"How do you forget that Tessa?" I laughed.

"I don't know, guess I've just been so focused on other things lately."

"Well I can't wait to meet her." I smiled. The bell sounded and the two of us looked in that particular direction. It was Mrs. Stabler. I hadn't seen her in a while. Made me wonder what she was doing here.

"Hello." I said standing and walking over to her my heels clacking against the tile floor.

"Hi." She said. She looked distressed, like she hadn't slept in days.

"You don't look so good are you okay?" I asked.

"Are you sick?!" Tessa asked. I was positive she was asking mainly because she didn't want a sick person in the shop.

"No no. Not sick. This place looks good by the way." She said.

"Thanks. What's with the surprise visit?" I asked.

"I was just wondering if I could ask a favor." I nodded. "Could you hang these outside or inside here somewhere please?" She asked. Mrs. Stabler handed me a few papers and I took them looking them over.

"Tania's missing." I said slowly.

"She went to San Francisco last week to visit some of her friends for the summer vacation and...she never came back home. I don't know if she's here or there and I tried calling her, but it just keeps going to voice mail. I'm so scared." She said. I could tell the woman was trying not to break down in tears. Part of me wanted to throw the papers back in her face and say 'fuck your daughter', but I remembered that in theory it never happened. Plus I realized that my mother must have felt the same way about me when I went missing.

"Sure of course and you know what, my fiance was just in San Francisco, I'll ask him if he saw her." I assured her.

"Thank you so much. I didn't know you were engaged." She said.

"It just happened." I told her.

"Oh well...thanks again. I'll leave you two alone now." I walked her to the door and watched her get into her car and take off.

"Xerxes are you really going to help her?" Tessa asked joining me.

"I have to. I'll feel like shit if I don't." I sighed.

…...

I hadn't seen Xerxes in a week. I talked to her on a nightly basis, but it didn't feel the same. I wanted to, but I just couldn't go back. I needed to get away. First the results and then Tania. I had to figure out what to do about her. This baby thing had me doing stupid shit.

"Jeff." Taeler groaned. I turned the tv up a little louder.

"Don't even you jackass I know you hear me!" She exclaimed.

"What do you want Taeler?" I sighed.

"I need your help. What haircut should he get?" She asked. I looked back and stared at her as she pulled at my clones hair trying to figure out what all to chop and what not to chop.

"He shouldn't get one. He needs to go back Taeler, we can't risk getting caught with him here." I sighed.

"He doesn't have to go just yet. He's fun! I like him, he's nicer than you are." She grinned.

"He's not a pet." I said getting annoyed.

"But he's my friend." She pouted.

"He's a fucking clone Taeler! He's a part of me and I need him back!" I yelled.

"Someone didn't sleep well." She frowned. "Are you still hungry for you know what?" Taeler still didn't know about what I had done yet. No one knew.

"Actually..no. I'm not." I sighed.

"Why? Did you get over it?" She asked.

"Not exactly." I said. Taeler didn't say anything for a while and eventually she came in front of me and stared down at me with a menacing look on her face.

"Jeffrey Nero Hardy what did you do?!" She exclaimed.

"It was a mistake Taeler. She was in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"Who was in the wrong place at the wrong time!?" She asked.

"Tania Stabler." I muttered.

"Who?" I repeated her name a little louder and then one more time before Taeler absolutely blew up. I just sat and waited it out. She'd come off of this soon. My phone however vibrated in my pocket. An early rescue. I pulled the device out of my pocket and answered it quickly. Taeler was still going on and on in the background so I had to leave the room out to the hallway.

"Hello?" I asked.

"_Hey babe, what's wrong you sound frustrated?" _Xerxes asked.

"It's nothing. What's up?"

"_You're still coming home tonight right? I miss you Jeff, a lot. You can't keep running from it." _She sighed.

"I know, I know and I'm sorry I just- yes. I'll be home tonight. I promise. How's it going at the shop?" I asked sitting against the wall.

"_It looks great in here. Tessa's sister Tamara is gonna help us out some when she gets in." _

"That's cool. Tamara? She sounds familiar. Ask her if she knows someone named Kennedy Shaw when she gets there."

"_Kennedy Shaw? I heard about her. She hates me. She told me to ask you why, but I forgot to." _ Oh great, what was Kennedy up to now?

"We'll talk about it later."

"_Someone unexpected dropped by the shop today." _

"Who?" I asked.

"_Karen Stabler. Tania's mom. She was looking for her, said she didn't come back from a trip to Cisco. Have you seen her?" _

"Why would I have seen her?" I lied.

"_I don't know, I know you were down there last weekend, just thought I'd check. Well alright I'll let you go tell Taeler and Cole I said 'hi'." _She giggled.

"His name is Jeff 2 and he's going back today."

"_Okay sure, see you tonight. I love you." _

"_Love you too." _

Tania's mother and father. That was a factor I hadn't taken into consideration. I'd have to do something about this once I returned home.

…...

"Oh Lucas, I can't wait for you to come home sweetie." My mother said.

"Actually mom, I don't think I wanna go home. I think I wanna get my own house." I told her.

"What..why?" She asked.

"Ma, I love you and I always will, but I'm tired of living with you and Troen. I'm about to graduate from Mystic and when I do I want to be in my own house." I said. My mom was here helping me prepare from my medical discharge. I couldn't wait to get out. To get back to Mystic and see her again even I she wanted hardly anything to do with me.

"Is this because of that girl Lucas? She and your brother are getting married and there's nothing we can do about that alright? You need to stop holding on to these twisted little fantasies." She scolded.

"Mother we have a baby on the way. I'm not raising my child in my parents house." I said firmly.

"Well you aren't raising it in a house with her either!" She exclaimed.

"I am not a little boy mom, you can't tell me what to do and I won't let you. I'm not stupid, I know she won't live with me, but I can still have a place for my daughter or son when they get here." I said.

"You are so weak Lucas." She seethed.

"Why? Because I refuse to let you baby me? Get out." I growled.

"Who the hell do you think you're talking to?" She asked.

"My bitch mother, now get the hell out!" She stared at me in appall before shaking her head in disgust.

"Your father will hear about this." She threatened.

"He's not my father. He's Jeff's father."

…...

It was late and I was sitting on my bed on my tablet. Kennedy Shaw was a very popular girl. I was on Orbit. It was a social networking for the magical beings. I wondered when the humans typed in if they were sent to a website about that gum with the gross and corny commercials.

Her photos were gorgeous. She was like some type of super model that wasn't a legit model in a way. It worried me constantly what she and Jeff had in common. I envied this woman. On several occasions my finger hovered above the befriend button, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. I would just go back to a new album of photos every time. She had one album of her with what looked like a close friend. She looked vastly different. She had wings for one thing and she wore an attire that showed off a lot of skin. It was like a one piece that covered only her breast and dipped down covering her fun box.

"What the hell is she?" I whispered.

"She's a succubus." I heard. I smiled knowing who it was.

"Welcome home you!" I cheered blinking into his arms. Jeff held me in his hold for a while kissing me and stroking my hair. He smelled so good.

"I missed you." He muttered into my hair.

"I missed you too." I said finally pulling back from him. "Jeff, are we just not talking about it?" I asked.

"I'm happy for you..and Lucas. We'll have our time one day." He said.

"I'll have a billion of your babies if you want me to. I promise." I said hugging him again.

"I'm holding you to that, but right now let's talk about other stuff." He said.

"Okay! First, who is Kennedy Shaw and why doesn't she like me?" I asked pulling him over with me to the bed.

"Well, one time the school was allowing volunteer sponsors for some of their students and my dad decided since he had nothing else to do he'd do that. He was Kennedy's sponsor. Against his advice she and I started having..casual..sex together and I told her we should stop when she wanted a relationship." He said.

"What is with you and relationships?" I smirked.

"They don't like me." He shrugged. I began massaging his shoulders.

"Alright so doesn't a succubus like steal your soul while you sleep and feed off your testosterone?" I asked.

"Actually, they have the most sex with you while you sleep and they don't feed off testosterone. You watch incredibly too much tv. Succubus' drain your sexual energy, they force you to perform oral on them, and then they give it back." He explained.

"...Why Jeff?" I asked so very confused.

"Because they're hot and it's the 21st century it's no longer done by force." He chuckled.

"Don't they reduce your health?" I asked.

"Yea, but I don't have any health to reduce so yea." He said.

"Okay so I'm guessing she doesn't like me because we're together now and she wanted you still?" I said trying to confirm my suspicion.

"Sounds about right." He nodded. "Tell you what, let me take a shower and I'll come back and we can talk all night about anything and everything. I promise."

"Okay." I smiled. Jeff stood up and turned to place a quick kiss on my lips. I laid back on the bed smiling happily to myself. Maybe things between really were okay.

…...

Last night I went to bed with Xerxes wrapped up in my arms and now I was waking up to a tray of something yummy in front of me. I sat up carefully yawning off the sleep and looked at the food.

"What is it?" I asked.

"It's a Zucchini Brie breakfast casserole." She smiled.

"What's up with all these breakfast casseroles?" I smirked.

"Well, I want to put them on the menu, but I need a taste tested first." She said.

"So I'm like a pawn in your nutrition experiments now?" I laughed. Xerxes nodded at me and leaned down kissing me.

"We should hang out today. We never do that." She said. Truth was she was right, she and I never hang out just the two of us.

"That's a great idea. Where do you wanna go?" I asked taking a bite of the casserole.

"I wanna go out into magic world. I want to go on a little date at a coffee shop, I want to go to this amusement park everyone keeps talking about on Orbit. I want to fight...demons. I want to vanquish something."

"Woah, the coffee shop and the park I can do, but vanquishing? That seems a little extreme." I said.

"Well." She started sitting on the bed. "Ever since my ritual I've been practicing my magic and I'm tired of practicing on Tessa and Wayne."

"Wayne?" I asked.

"Tessa's crush. She didn't want anyone to know about it til she was sure they were going somewhere, so that it didn't get jinxed." I watched her as she cursed the bad juju away and then took a sip of my orange juice.

"How'd that go for ya?" I asked.

"Well, Tessa's scared of the fire and electricity so she doesn't really like participating, but Wayne's a good sport. A few cuts and bruises but he's good. I meditate in the mornings now. Meditate and levitate." She said smiling wide.

"I'm proud of you Xerx." I told her.

"Thanks..um, I have to tell you something before it gets too late." She said.

"Tell me what?" I asked.

"I was talking to Doctor Jamestown and she told me that the baby would arrive in 5 months. I should be due in November. So I started looking for some stuff for the nursery, but if you don't want the baby upstairs I completely understand." She said.

"Xerxes it's fine. We need to talk about this rooming situation anyways." I told her.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"I love your room, I like what you did to it and all but I also like my room and I'd rather us sleep there...together."

"But..I spent so much time on my room Jeff. It represents me and well your room..it represents Taeler." She frowned.

"Then maybe this could be your getaway room." I suggested.

"Or, maybe we could remodel the house. It won't take long. We could expand on our bedroom and make it a mix of the both of us."

"We need an adult bedroom. We're both adults now." I said.

"It will be. You know what? Maybe this could our daughters bedroom?" She said.

"Daughter?" I asked.

"Yea." She nodded slowly. "After we have Donovan. I want us to have a baby girl. Two. Zaryn Aaliyah Hardy...and...Brailey Nicole Hardy. I want Zaryn to be the oldest. I want Brailey to do ballet. Zaryn, she's gonna play soccer. Donovan can be just like his daddy. An amazing wrestler." Seeing the way her eyes lit up when she talked about our kids just made me happier that I was here with her. She was really looking forward to having my babies. I could settle for that. A little boy and two girls. Three kids. We'd be a family of five. An amazing, beautiful, loving family.

…...

**A/N Okay so I'd just like to say when I have my kids those will be their names, yes Hardy included because I'm positive I'm going to marry him. Anyways, I wonder if Jeff is going to tell Xerxes about Tania and the next chapter is the first date of Jeff and Xerxes. Are you excited!? I am! R&R!**


	15. The First Date

Turning Tables

Disclaimer: We all know that I am not lucky enough to own Jeff Hardy or anyone else..just Xerxes and the OC(s).

Chapter 15: The First Date

…...

"Xerxes are you ready to go!?" I called. It was eight in the morning and for her to be so ready to head out to Splash Cavern she was taking her sweet ass time. I sighed checking my watch again as she finally made her over to me. I frowned at all the bags she had with her.

"I'm ready!" She exclaimed.

"To move to Fresno?!" I asked. "Xerx we're going to an amusement park and then out to eat and-"

"And then to vanquish demons!" She clapped.

"No. And then home." I told her. "What's with all the bags?"

"Well I learned in Mr. Keinz class that all magical beings have battle attire so I spent all night conjuring up cute outfits that I would love to fight in." She said grinning.

"Xerx I think you misunderstood him." I chuckled. Her enthusiasm for all this was so cute. "Do you remember that photo you saw on Orbit of Kennedy with the wings and that armor?"

"Yes." She nodded.

"Do you think she picked out those wings?" I asked. She shook her head. "Your battle attire is not only a family attire, it's an attire that everyone in your 'coven' or of your kind wears. They all resemble one another, but they are never exactly the same...unless you have twins. They can be the same." Xerxes stared at me clearly no longer interested in what I was saying.

"So...do all other witches wear what I hope they wanna wear?" She asked.

"Baby you're not gonna know until you change. It'll most likely be some black dress." I shrugged.

"And let me guess, the vampires get the hottest outfits?" She said frowning.

"Well...yeaa." I said unable to hide my smirk.

"I have a question. If someone like me got bit would my outfit change?" She asked.

"..Why do you ask?" I said quirking an eyebrow at her.

"Just wondering. The quicker you answer, the quicker I can send all this unnecessary crap back and then we can go!" She said.

"Yes. If someone who wasn't already a vampire, but had other magical qualities were to get bitten your attire would change now let's go." She leaned up and kissed my cheek and got rid of everything she didn't need. I couldn't help but to wonder what was up with that question. What if that did happen? I could have her by my side forever. I wouldn't have to worry about sickness and death. Not hers at least. Hm, oh the possibilities.

…...

So I finally found out what Splash Cavern was. The best place that was ever built. Jeff and I were having a great time here. Except for the roller coasters, which fortunately for me because miscarriages were a thing of nonexistence in the magical world, I could ride...oh joy! They were far too fast, far too dangerous, and far too not made for humans. Jeff had tricked me into one ride called the Water Cannon. They set up in sort of like a bungee thing and then they shoot you into the air where you land in a pool of water.

"I can't believe you did that to me!" I screamed smacking his chest as I came back up from underwater. He laughed at me pulling me closer to him.

"Oh calm down, you had fun and you know it." He laughed kissing my cheek.

"Yea okay I guess I did. You still should've told me what happens." The two of us swam towards the pools exit and made our way around the park slowly.

"I want to go to Thunder Mountain." I said.

"Thunder Mountain? Weren't you the one just crying because you were shot into a pool?" He asked.

"Okay but Thunder Mountain looks safe. What is it anyways?" I asked him.

"It's a standing coaster. You go up, down, around and around down a big drop and then it stops...and you shot all the way back up and finish the ride backwards." He said.

"Hm, well would you look at that there's a lazy pool!" I exclaimed.

"Ohh no. We're going to the mountain." Jeff chuckled hugging me from behind.

"Fine fine. We can go to the mountain, but the sex better be on point tonight to make up for all the-" I stopped in the middle of my sentence and in the middle of my walk and my mouth dropped in shock.

"What's wrong?" Jeff asked.

"Hide! We have to hide!" I said pulling him behind a hot dog cart.

"What is your problem why are we hiding?" He asked confused.

"Do you see that guy over there?" I asked pointing.

"The one eating the face off of that girl?" He asked.

"Yes! That guy is Wayne!" I shrieked. "How could he do that to Tessa?"

"...Wayne is a really ugly name." Jeff said. I noticed how he didn't answer my question and I sighed feeling a little stupid for saying.

"I'm sorry."

"You should tell Tessa. She should know." Jeff said.

"I should say something to him first. And that bitch! She's probably ugly." I sneered.

"I doubt that." He said.

"So do I, but it makes me feel better thinking it." I stood up and leaned against the hot dog guy studying the couple.

"So even though you don't work the rides do you still ride for free?" Jeff asked the dog guy.

"Yea." He nodded.

"Cool." Jeff said also nodding.

"Let's go Jeff. Today is all about us, forget them. I'll tell Tess later." I said.

"Are you sure?" He asked.

"Yes, but before we go. I want to try little trick." I stood a little ways away from the cart and let out a few deep breaths.

_'Focus Xerxes.' _Valkyrie said. I trained all my focus on the bucket of relish and slowly and steadily lifted it from it's plot. The relish moved across the air shaking a little. The farther it got the harder it was to hold on. I took another deep breath and closed my eyes remembering how it felt to slowly seep into that blue water. How the elements showered themselves over me. I re-opened my eyes and pushed the tiny green cubes farther landing on my target and I smiled at myself proudly.

"Looks like I'm getting somewhere after all."

…...

Xerxes and I had gone to the Cracker Jack house after our long day at Splash Cavern. I'd promised her a cake for her job well done at the park. Today was going pretty great. Why didn't we do this more often? She looked so happy. That was until I told her about Tania. I had no idea when to tell her.

"So have you heard anything else from Karen?" I asked.

"Oh no. I should probably tell her you haven't seen her though. It's really nice to not have to cook for a change, I mean obviously I like doing it, but yea you know." She said.

"Maybe you shouldn't tell her right away." I said quietly. Xerxes looked up at me and slowly put her fork down.

"Why not?" She asked. I cleared my throat and pursed my lips.

"I did see Tania. She was in fact still in San Francisco when she went missing." I confessed.

"And how do you know this Jeff?" She asked.

"Because I took her...and I drank her blood...all of it. She's dead." I said.

"D-dead?" She whispered. "Jeff you killed her!?"

"Look, it was the night we got the results on the baby and I was pissed and she came by drunk and all over the place and I'd been craving it for so long now. I thought maybe if I just nicked her, I could worry about her becoming a vampire later, but no I just kept going and going and going." I sighed.

"Jeff! We have to fix this." She whined.

"Why!? No one knows but you and I...and Taeler." I said. "We can make them forget they ever had a kid. Not like she can get up and tell them otherwise."

"No. I refuse to let that happen to anyone else. It may have benefited me, but that's not fair to her. Besides, didn't you warn me about doing anything that could bring back memories that are supposed to stay erased?"

"Yea that was me, but I think that ship has sailed. You bought a business from this woman." I told her.

"Jeff I feel bad." She sighed.

"Why? She murdered you. She let those guys crawl on top of you. She insisted that they kill you."

"Yea I know, I know, but now I feel like I'm murdering her. One time I felt like she deserved to spend the rest of her life in misery and like she deserved to even die, but now I just wanna thank her. She sent me to a better life..with you."

"Awww." I cooed. "Too bad that kiss ass stuff won't bring her back."

"Jerk." She hissed. I pulled her closer to me and kissed her forehead.

"Xerxes look, let's just leave things as they are, I took a gamble bringing you back. Gambling with magic isn't something you wanna do. I'm sorry for biting her, but all things happen for a reason."

"I guess you're right." She sighed. "Can I get my cake now? I wanna go home and play in it." She winked cuddling up to me.

"Of course baby."

…...

_'I don't know if I can do this. I'm nervous.'_

_'Don't worry. I've got everything we need. We'll do it tomorrow night.'_

_'What if we get caught?' _

_'If we get caught then we get caught.'_

_'...Fine. I'm in.' _

_'Good you have no idea how much I love you for this.'_

_'Yea yea I love you too.'_

…...

**A/N** Strange text messages between people? Why? Wonder who? Wedding plans and Lucas coming soon! R&R!


	16. Digging Up The Past

Turning Tables

Disclaimer: We all know that I am not lucky enough to own Jeff Hardy or anyone else..just Xerxes and the OC(s).

Chapter 16: Digging Up The Past

…...

Tamara and I were in San Francisco. It was pouring down raining, nearly flooding out here. The fact that we were digging up an unknown grave wasn't making it any better. My clothes were sticking to my skin and my hair was sopping wet with beads of water running down my face. I looked through the rain at Tessa who seemed frustrated.

"This is ridiculous Xerxes!" She yelled over the thunder. "We're not gonna find her!"

"We have to keep looking Tessa! We can't just give up!" I yelled back.

"We've been digging for hours. I doubt she's here. The dirt is turning to mud and it's filling up the whole. If we don't gonna get out of here we're gonna be neck deep in it!"

"You're exaggerating!" I exclaimed. I stuck the shovel in the ground once more and I felt it hit something rather hard. I looked up at Tessa with a smile on my face.

"Tessa! I think it's her!" I tossed the shovel and dropped to my knees in the mud with Tessa doing the same. We moved back lots of wet dirt until we saw the cold, dead face of a girl. Her eyes and mouth were still open. She was obviously taken from behind. Tessa and I stood up pulling on the body from under the dirt.

"Shit Jeff did a good ass job burying her." Tessa said.

"Tell me about it. Let's just get out of this hole." Tessa nodded and I blinked the three of us back onto the surface wondering what to do about the hole.

"Don't worry about it. It should fill itself back in." My vampire friend said. I nodded and looked back down at the body. She was so discolored and dirty. It was disgusting.

"She smells bad." I said covering my nose with my sleeve.

"She does. Let's get out of here."

"Thanks Tess, really I couldn't have done this without you."

…...

It was lunch time at the academy and I was at the sandwich shop with Tessa. We were discussing the body that we'd buried in the backyard. Jeff was out with Taeler for the day. All we had to do was just get back before him. Before we could finish our conversation we were interrupted by someone clearing their throat. I looked up and saw Lucas. He smiled at us sheepishly. He looked better and healthier.

"Hey Tess..hey Xerx." He said.

"Hi Lucas. Welcome back." Tessa said standing and hugging him.

"Hi Lucas." I said quietly.

"Tessa could we talk for a moment?" Tessa nodded leaving us to ourselves. Lucas took her spot across from me and stared at me.

"I uh, I'm moving out of my parents house." He told me.

"Really? That's nice." I said.

"Can we stop beating around the bush? I want to be apart of my child's life."

"I never said you wouldn't." I sighed.

"You haven't talked to me since you found out. You've been avoiding me." He exclaimed.

"I wasn't avoiding you, I just wasn't going to sit in a hospital room 24/7 because I'm having your kid. That's not how it works Lucas." I scoffed at him.

"Well maybe you could've sat there because your boyfriend did that to me." He growled.

"Fiance. He's my fiance." I said correcting him.

"Fiance? He's proposed to you already?" He frowned.

"Yes." Lucas was quiet. He was too quiet.

"You can't marry him. He can't marry you." He told me.

"What? What do you mean?" I asked.

"Xerxes...in the magic realm a king can't marry a woman who's bearing another man's child. He has to represent the image of a good king. Good kings don't marry harlots." He said. My mouth fell open a bit and I felt the anger rising to my chest.

"Harlot?" I asked.

"I didn't mean to offend you. I was just being honest. That's what the book says." He said quietly.

"Does Jeff know this?" I asked.

"Of course he does. How many people has he told about the pregnancy?" He asked me leaning closer over the table. I thought about it.

"No one really." I recalled a phone call I'd received from Troen congratulating me on the pregnancy. When I'd asked if Jeff told him, he said no. Laura had told him after Lucas told her. I'd told Tessa. He probably only told Taeler.

"Why would he tell anyone? It's not his. He shouldn't...care." I said trying to find a way to make sense of it.

"No..Xerxes I know why he didn't tell anyone. Jeff has a plan for you, a bad one. I didn't wanna believe that he'd actually do it, but I should've known. Him being him, of course he would." He said seeming to be in disbelief.

"What? What's the plan?"

"He wants his crown..his kingdom. He has to take a magical wife. He saw your death on the news and decided to make you his queen. Which is understandable, you're naive to magic so when he tried to dump you if you tried to put up a fight, he'd easily win. Plus you don't know anything about the rules of magic world."

"Xerxes, this marriage has been set up for failure. Jeff's just gonna take your soul and send you back when he gets that crown."

…...

I was so pissed off. How could Lucas say that to me? How could Jeff do this to me? He was trying to humiliate me and use me for his own advantages. I should've known something was up when he mentioned the crown. I just couldn't grasp the fact that after everything we'd been through Jeff would do this to me. My veins were surging with electricity right now. Fire and ice were mixing in my heart.

Right now Mr. Keinz had us out on the field for battle training. I was going up against some guy named Jonah. He was a wimpy looking fellow even though he showed great confidence in himself. Unfortunately for him, he was in the path of a storm right now. As he stood across from me preparing for our battle to begin more images of Jeff and I clouded my mind.

"Ready!" Mr. Keinz called. I had to focus on this battle. I refused to lose against this loser.

"Transform!" I looked down as my clothes began to disintegrate into a short leather attire. It was a strapless corset bodice with a short ruffled skirt that had lace trimming on the bottom. Red lines flew through it creating a floral pattern through the costume. My feet were donned with black knee high boots that had zippers on one side and criss cross stitching on the other side. Fingerless black lace gloves decorated my hands. I could get along with this.

"Hey are you ready to get your butt whooped fresh meat!?" He laughed. I smiled slowly and grimly at him. I could feel the magic taking over my body.

"Battle!" The nerd took off in a full sprint jumping into the air and transforming into a jaguar. I threw my hands up and watched with delight as a bolt of electricity ran through the air and descended through his body. He changed from a jaguar, to a lion, to a wildebeest, and then back to his scrawny self before I stopped and let him fall to the ground defeated.

"Was that your best?" I asked. "Pretty pathetic." If Jeff thought he was gonna get out of this easily, he was so wrong.

…...

After school I went with Xerxes back to her house to dig Tania's body up for the second time. Something was strange about her though. Not Tania, but Xerxes. She had this gaze in her eyes that seemed distant and foreign. It's like I didn't recognize her.

We hauled the body onto the patio concrete and Xerxes went to get the water hose turning it on full blast and spraying Tania's body with it to wash all the dirt off of her. Then we rolled her up in bunches of towels and carried her inside the house and down to Xerxes' room. She had a spot on the floor with black candles all around it. We laid Tania down in the middle of the candles and then Xerxes grabbed a piece of paper reading it over.

"Are you sure this is going to work?" I asked.

"It should. This is the spell Jeff used on me. He used a charm to capture my spirit. Valkyrie's charm." She said.

"Well what are we going to use?" Xerxes walked over to her dresser and came back with a little box. She opened the box and pulled out a small container of something, a string, a crystal, and some bark.

"The spell is in Romanian." She said laying the crystal down on the bark. I quickly turned off the lights after lighting the candles and watched her closely. She opened the container and poured a few drops of what I smelled to be blood on the crystal. I held my breath. She tied the string around the crystal tightly and then held it close to her lips.

"Moarte va vine in viata." She whispered. She kissed the crystal and tied it around Tania's corpse. She held her hands over her body and closed her eyes repeating the spell again and again. A blue glow started to form around her and Tania and a silent wind swept through the room blowing out the candles. It was dark. Too dark for my comfort. I turned the lights back on and looked back at the two on the floor.

Tania's body still seemed to show no signs of life for a moment and then I saw the slow rise and fall of her chest. Her eyes fluttered open and she opened her mouth sucking in a deep breath of air and sitting up quickly. Her eyes were a bloodshot red color and she looked around the room furiously.

"Xerxes...what's she doing?" I asked. Tania turned and stared at me blinking ever so slowly and cocking her head from side to side.

"She may try to kill you." Xerxes said. "Good thing you're already dead."

"Lucky me." I said as she joined my side.

"W-where am I?" Tania asked slowly. Her voice sounded faint and ghostlike. I wasn't so sure she was alive.

"You're in a safe place Tania." Xerxes said. "Do you remember what happened to you?" The girl on the floor looked down at her wet clothing and ran a hand through her tangled hair.

"I thought I was dead." She said quietly.

"You were...you are. You're the undead. I brought you back to life. Tessa and I did. Do you remember who I am?"

"Should she?" I whispered.

"I have no idea. She's dead now though, maybe things are different."

"Why would I know you?" Tania asked standing.

"Because you murdered me. You were my best friend..and you killed me." Tania stared at her with her red eyes and just stood there. Her hands twitched at her sides and her bottom lip quivered.

"That doesn't sound like something I'd do. I have-had, my problems. I'm not that crazy." She smiled.

"You may not be crazy...but you're a cold heartless bitch."

…...

I was sitting at the table across from Tania while she scarfed down the food I'd made. Tessa had gone home. She had a project to do. I still had no idea how to tell Jeff what I'd done and then again I didn't think it mattered much anymore. He lied to me. He used me. He was going to play me. I could hear him appear from thin air behind me and Tania stopped eating. She looked up at him standing slowly with a scowl coming across her face.

"You." She hissed at him.

"You." He said back quietly. "Xerxes...what the hell did you do?"

"I resurrected her. I haven't made the deal you made with me yet, but yes I did indeed resurrect her." I told him.

"Xerxes this is wrong. We can't keep her here. She needs to go back." He said sternly.

"Back where?" Tania seethed. "To that hole they dug me out of?"

"Maybe somewhere a little harder to find." He said. I stood up and went to stand next to him.

"What's your problem? I did exactly what you did." I frowned.

"No Xerxes. You resurrected a demon. This bitch is pure evil and I don't mean that in the context of what she did to you. I mean she's just a bitter soul full of hatred and rage and she's going to probably kill someone." He said glaring at the red eyed corpse.

"I thought she came back a little funny." I shrugged.

"You don't care?" He asked never taking his eyes off of her.

"As far as I'm concerned this is your fault she's like this. So she's fucked a little. We'll tame her, just fix her damn eyes...they creep me out."

…...

"She just walked away." I told my father.

"What'd you do with Tania?" He asked.

"I chained her up in one of the guest rooms. Xerxes obviously wants her alive so I'm gonna keep her that way." I shrugged.

"That's dangerous Jeff, what if you have company over? If she gets loose she could kill them." He reminded me.

"I know, I know. I'm gonna fix her. First I need to find out what's going on with Xerxes. She's acting really weird. First the thing last night and then this morning when I went in her room she was just staring in her closet mirror."

"Maybe she finds herself attractive." He shrugged.

"No no. I didn't say she was staring at herself. It's look like she was looking at someone else or through the mirror itself. Then she just turned around and stared at me." I said.

"Well I guess your girlfriend just has problems. Have you explained the marriage ceremony to her?" He asked me then.

"I will today after she gets back home from the academy." I told him.

"Jeff, your little plan, to get the crown and then do away with her...is that still in effect?"

"No." I said honestly. "We both screwed up the relationship one way or another, but we're on the same page now. I love her and she loves me. I'm not letting her go so easily."

…...

**A/N** Okay, short chapter, I apologize. I'll update again as soon as possible. Seems like Lucas has come back and already managed to stir up more trouble, and what's going on with Xerxes? Is the power just a little too much for her?


	17. Strange Waters

Turning Tables

Disclaimer: We all know that I am not lucky enough to own Jeff Hardy or anyone else..just Xerxes and the OC(s).

Chapter 17: Strange Waters

…...

"So, when am I getting out of here?" Tania asked me. I was sitting in a big chair across from her reading a wedding magazine to determine what stuff I wanted to order for my wedding. Jeff was forcing me to babysit her. He said it was my fault she was here to begin with and I was going to take responsibility for her.

"When you get fixed." I said vaguely.

"What's wrong with me?" I looked at her as she sat on the floor. Same eyes, same blank stare she'd had since she came back.

"Apparently you're a demon. Doesn't surprise me, you were a demon when you were alive too."

"When you least expect it...I'm going to kill you." She grinned.

"Well I guess that'd be twice." I sighed flipping the page. I marked down another idea that I wanted.

"Xerxes!" I stood up taking my magazine with me and I started for the door before it slammed shut in my face showing several scratch marks on it.

"Open the door Tania." I said placing my hands on my hips.

"You'd rather be in here than out there." She told me. I knew what she was referring to. I had been on the phone with Tessa explaining to her Jeff's genius plot to use me and then toss me back into the afterlife. She couldn't agree that he was doing this. She claimed he loved me too much. Naive little Tessa.

"Shut up and open the door." Tania opened the door and took to singing some song that she'd been singing for days now. I walked out and into the kitchen where Jeff was standing.

"Come sit, I have some stuff for you to see." He said.

"I also have some stuff for you to see." I said sitting down in one the chairs.

"You first." He said. I opened my little magazine and moved in between us so he could see.

"I've been looking in this all day long and I picked out some ideas that I wanted for the wedding. I want us to make books and title it reasons I want to marry you. Starting tomorrow. Then everyday or every time we think of something that makes us want to marry one another we right it in and then two days before the wedding we'll take bits and pieces of that to make up our vows. We don't have to use everything, just whatever we want." I told him.

"That sounds reasonable." He said.

"In the reception room I want us to have long two long tables. One on either side of the room. I want them to have a teal table cloth on them and lavender flowers with like some violet napkins on the plates. I'm also kind of conflicted because I want an outside wedding, but I don't want it to rain on us so yea just scratch the outside."

"Are those three colors going to be the scheme of the wedding?" He asked.

"Now see that's what gets me, those colors are beautiful...but...I don't want a tux in other of those colors on you. Maybe you can wear like a grey colored tuxedo and then a teal vest? And then my bridesmaid can wear the violet dresses. That'd be so gorgeous. And for my hairstyle I want my hair curled and then one braid on each side and then taken up into like a side bun...where are we having the wedding?" I asked. Jeff whistled and then smiled and reached into a black bag on the table. He pulled out a black handled, double bladed knife, a white braided spool of rope, and then a tall, slender legged, golden cup with a top that had letters engraved on it.

"What the hell is all this?" I asked.

"Now uh, before you get upset, this stuff isn't going to completely ruin your dream wedding." He held up the knife. "This is called an athame. It's a ceremonial blade used along with this." He paused and pointed the athame to the golden cup. "This is called a chalice."

"What do we do with this?"

"After we say 'I do' the ...whatever officiate we choose to use, he will slice our right palm and then tie them together and then he will pronounce us husband and wife, lady and lord, king and queen of the nation and then we'll kiss. It's official just like that." He smiled. Just like that? No, I wasn't going to make it that easy for him.

"I don't wanna do that." I said. His smile fell a little and he cleared his throat looking back and forth between me and the items on the table.

"What?" He asked.

"I don't wanna do that Jeff." I repeated flipping through more pages of the magazine.

"It's apart of my family tradition. It's the tradition of the whole warlock kingdom." He scoffed.

"Well I'm not a warlock."

"But you have warlock powers." He said. "Xerxes I'm not asking you to wear the attire or do anything else special. I just want this one thing."

"Well I'm marrying you, isn't that enough?" I muttered.

"You say that like you don't want this." He said quietly.

"I do." I said looking at them. "I want my crown."

"Is that the only reason you're doing this?"

"Well isn't that the only reason either of us are doing this?"

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

"Okay okay, I won't lie to you Jeff. She did call me and tell me something about that." Tessa said. I'd found her at the shop unloading some foods that they'd received for the shop. The men were still carrying back big boxes of imported goods to the freezer.

"Something like? C'mon Tessa, I need you to tell me everything so I can fix this." I said. Tessa pursed her lips thinking and waved me on with her into the back office where a tall dark haired girl stood.

"Tamara can you give Jeff and I a minute please?" She asked.

"Yea sure." Tamara smiled. She walked out of the room shutting the door behind her and Tessa turned to me.

"Alright, she called me after we left Mystic the day Lucas came back. She said Lucas had told her that you had a plan to marry her so you could get your crown and then you were gonna kick her to the curb. I told her...she was overreacting and that Lucas was lying. He's just trying to get in her head. I told her how crazy you were about her and that you wouldn't do that." She explained. Lucas, damn him. Of course he would be at the center of this whole mess. He was the center of all my fucking problems.

"You wouldn't do that to her, right?" Tessa asked me. I ran my hair along my tied back hair and let out a deep sigh.

"Tess look, it was before I met her...and a little when I did meet her. Then things changed and I realized I was in love with her. It turned into something about more than just a silly crown." I said.

"That's cold, but I believe you when you say you're not still in it for the crown." She said.

"I should've known it was Lucas' fault. He just really doesn't want me to be happy." A swift knock sounded at the door and Tessa opened it.

"Speak of the devil himself." I scowled.

"Jeff." Lucas said walking further into the room.

"Let me ask you something Lucas, when is enough gonna be enough for you huh?" I growled.

"I guess you know that your dirty little secret's out." He smiled.

"You think this is funny? You have probably ruined my last chance at happiness you dick!" I yelled.

"Oh bullshit! You're Jeff fucking Hardy remember? You can get any slut you want, I just don't want you to have Xerxes." He exclaimed.

"Maybe I should just burn a hole through your body." I said as I crept closer to him menacingly.

"So then he'll hate you even more? One day Jeff, you're gonna realize that Xerxes does care about me. I am her friend and hopefully, eventually, I'll be more than that."

"You think you can make her happy?" I asked him.

"I did once already and she came crawling back for more."

"Lucas!" Tessa exclaimed. "Don't talk about Xerxes that way! And Jeff you stop it too, I don't want blood in our office!" She said lowly.

"Guys look, Xerxes cares about both of you she just cares more about Jeff. Lucas, you have to understand that Xerxes chose Jeff for a reason. She loves him Lucas. What you did was wrong, inappropriate, and down right evil. She's already having your baby, why couldn't you just let them have their marriage?" Tessa said to him.

"She isn't _allowed _to marry him." He huffed.

"Did you tell her that?" I asked him.

"As a matter of fact I did. I'm happy she knows, pretty soon everyone's going to know the real father of her baby and your guys little happily ever after will be a failed dream...just like your first wedding."

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: ::::::::::::::::::::::::::

I was sitting in my mythological history class. As luck would have it we were going over warlock traditions and of course marriage just happened to be in this lesson. I guess sitting here in class listening to yet another person explain to me why I couldn't be happy. Why I couldn't have the only man I want. I thought that maybe experiencing death was the most painful thing I'd ever encountered, but ever since I made a deal with the devil things had only gotten worse. Harder.

My life had never been full of so much regret, hatred, tears, and sorrow. I missed my mom. I missed my school, all those beautiful people I hated. I missed them too. Everything. Even though this was a world full of such wonder and amazement, I just felt like it wasn't for me. Nothing here was right for me and I wanted to go back. Especially this classroom and even this teacher. They weren't right for me. No one in here particularly liked me.

"Alright. Now let's further on into the rules of marriage. Who can tell me the difference between marriage with normal people like us...and royalty?" Mr. Jones asked looking around the room. Plenty of hands went up but he looked past them and directly at me.

"Xerxes? I think it's only fit if you answer seeing as though you're going to be royalty soon...or so I've heard." He grinned. Heads turned around to look at me with fierce eyes and I twirled around the pencil in my hand. I only knew one rule. The rule that was haunting me.

"Ask someone else." I bit out not wanting to sit in the spotlight any longer.

"The difference is that people like us can marry any one person we choose to, as long as they're within age. Royal people have stricter rules, such as, they can only marry people of power. They must use traditional methods at their wedding. After the wedding, the lady must bear a child if one is not already born/conceived to the lord so that an heir to the thrown is ensured, which is why the king can not marry a woman who is with child belonging to another man because that child can not be heir to his thrown. If the child is already born and does not belong to the king, it's fine to marry her, but that child isn't to be recognized as a prince or a princess."

And then it hit me. Maybe, just maybe this could still work. I jumped up from my seat as soon as the bell rang and scurried out into the hall to find Lucas. I caught him walking down the stairs on his way to lunch with Tessa.

"I need to talk to you!" I exclaimed dragging him off to a corner with me.

"Xerxes..what's with all the urgency?"

"You lied to me." I spat heated.

"Lied? Xerxes I've never lied to you about anything."

"So you didn't lie, but you didn't tell me the whole truth Lucas! You told me what you wanted me to hear!" I yelled at him. I could feel the electricity flowing through my veins again. Oh the sensation. The sickening, evil sensation that made me so happy.

"Xerx calm down alright, you- you're getting a little upset aren't you?" He said resting his hands on my shoulders.

"Oh no. I am so much more than upset. You are a terrible terrible person Lucas Watkins. You claim to be in love with me, but you tried to ruin my wedding before it even started. You tried tearing me away from the one person I need more than anything in this world right now and yes, I may hate his guts, I may want to be able to just walk away from him and never look back because of everything that he's put me through but I can't because every time I think about why it's all happening to me I realize it's your fault. Every single fight that Jeff and I have had has been because of you.

I hate you more than I hate him...only difference is that at the end of everyday, I'll still love him..and I've _stopped_ loving you."

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: ::::::::::::

I stared at the sleeping girl on the floor. The sweat beads that trickled down her forehead. The way she tossed and turned. It'd been at least three hours and I was getting bored. I'd decided to do something to keep my mind off of wanting to kill Lucas...so I'd gone back to 'fixing' Tania. Binding her powers. Now I was just waiting for her to awake so I could work on changing her appearance. I'd noticed the 'Missing' flier in the girls restaurant. It bothered me a little. Even though Tania was nothing innocent, her mother and father still were.

I licked my lips and then stood up walking out of the room and shutting the door behind me. I looked around the living room and kitchen at the boxes of stuff that I was preparing to throw out. Heidi's stuff. I already was at a bad start going into this wedding and I refused to have her stuff here. They'd only remind me of what she did, how she left me at the alter and let me know that Xerxes could do the same thing so very easily.

If I wanted this thing to go through smoothly, I had to operate smoothly. No games with her. No being lenient with her. She needed to get her head straight and act like a good fiance and later a good wife. I was _not _going to let myself get played again. It was simply not an option. I took the boxes out to the backyard with me and set them on fire. They would burn just like she did. The flames jumped and danced in front of my eyes while I watched with a subtle smile on my face. I watched until everything was charred and left a scolding black mark on the concrete of the patio.

"Jeff?" I turned around to see Xerxes standing in the doorway.

"What?"

"What are you doing?"

"Getting rid of some old shit." I said shoving my hands in my pockets.

"Mhm." She nodded. "Well uh...I just wanted to let you know that I'm fine with using your method for the wedding." So this was a surprise, she seemed to be in a good mood.

"Well I don't see where that really matters."

"Huh?"

"...Ya see...my love. Whether you like the method or not, we were going to use it. As a matter of fact, we're probably going to be doing a lot of things that you don't like from now on." I told her as I sat slowly in a nearby chair.

"Oh. Really now? Is that for certain?"

"It's for damn certain. I gave you life, I gave you a second chance after you lowered yourself to nothing, I still wanted you after finding out that you got yourself pregnant with some disgusting little being. Without me, you'd be nothing. You need me Xerxes, you need me and I'm gonna make sure that you return those favors. No more arguing, no more little bitch fits, no more Xerxes' way, from now on it's Jeff's way...or the highway."

"Meaning?" She muttered. I stood up and walked over to her. Cupping her chin I kissed her lightly on the lips and held her steady in front of me.

"Meaning." I smiled. "Do as I say...or get the fuck out my house."

**A/N** Okay, I know it's been a while, but just hang in there with me. Xerxes and Jeff are extremely bi-polar, but I think Jeff's finally settled on an emotion. I'm going to work Tamara and Kennedy into the next chapter which will be steamy. Pre-warning for some intense sexual contact! ;D


	18. Going Under

Turning Tables

Disclaimer: We all know that I am not lucky enough to own Jeff Hardy or anyone else..just Xerxes and the OC(s).

Chapter 18: Going Under

…...

"So I was thinking, we should do something tonight." I said to her. Tessa looked up to me from her book and raised her eyebrows.

"Something like?"

"Well...I've been on orbit, made an account actually and I realized that everyone has a group or a cult or a pack that they belong to...I don't. I want to find it. I have to have one somewhere don't I?"

"Hm." She said closing her book and paying more attention now. "Well yea I guess so. I have a pack."

"Your family right?"

"Actually no. Packs work with whoever you flow well with. Like...Lucas. He isn't exactly the strongest of ...vamps or warlocks...so he's in a pack known as Dissolutus. It's Latin...for weak. It's a really big insult, but in the ancient books the Dissolutus pack and Jeff's family pack Rector Imperator, or ruling commander, they go to war and Dissolutus wins. They become the new RI." She explained.

"Seriously? How if they're so..pathetic seeming and Jeff's so..how?" I asked her.

"You're not going to want to hear this."

"No. Tell me. I want to know." I urged. Tessa sighed at me and bit her bottom lip before finally responding. I guess she was right. In a way I didn't want to hear it. The answer only seemed to bring more depression to my life. In the book of Bellum, meaning war, Rowan was Dissolutus...and now, because of Valkyrie..he lives in the afterlife as Rector Imperator.

…...

My mind was reeling after the fight with Xerxes last week. No matter how hard I tried it just seemed like things weren't going to get better for us. I couldn't grasp any of it. Why she would want to be with him, despite all the warnings I'd given her. Why couldn't she just love me the way I loved her. After everything we'd shared together. All I think about is that night with her. That morning with her. She was everything I needed.

"Hi Lucas." Tamara smiled as I walked into their diner.

"Hey Ara. Pretty busy in here huh?" I said smiling back. Tamara had been around for a little while now. She worked at the Diner. She's was a pretty friendly girl and she was truly beautiful. She'd dyed her hair black and it went well against her skin.

"Yea. The busier, the more money, the fatter my paycheck. Anyways, what's up? Aren't you going on that trip with your class?" Ah, the trip downtown that wasn't particularly for me.

"It's not for my kind...it's a Witch's trip. They're studying potions and they were supposed to be going downtown to Winburgh's Market."

"Oh...oh!" She exclaimed laughing a little. "I'm sorry, I was never really an A student at the Academy. You're graduating soon aren't you?"

"Pretty soon, yea." I said sighing.

"Why the sad face hun?"

"I just got a lot on my mind. Can I get one of those things?" I asked pointing to the counter laid out with such tempting desserts.

"It's a Double Chocolate Cake with Vanilla filling sir, and didn't your mother tell you food before dessert?" She smirked.

"Yea, mom told me a lot of things that don't really matter right now." Tamara fixed me a slice of the chocolate cake, handing it to me.

"Are you okay Lucas? I know I haven't been here from the very beginning, but I've been hearing quite a bit and it sounds like you're involved in some deep shit." I licked my lips momentarily and looked around. As luck would have it, Jeff was just walking into the building. I scoffed looking back at Tamara.

"That's my deep shit." I muttered.

"Lucas!" I heard him yell.

"You guys are always fighting. You're brothers, you should be..closer. Nicer to each other." Tamara said as he walked over to us.

"Nice isn't in Jeff's vocabulary."

"Don't speak for me, I have a voice." He bit. "Where's Xerxes?"

"Well I don't know big brother. You have a bit of trouble keeping up with her don't you?" I smirked. "And to think, you're supposed to be a heart throb to girls, but the one you want the most wants absolutely nothing to do with you."

"Let's get something straight Lucas. Just because you got lucky once doesn't mean that you know all about our relationship. You know nothing Lucas, _nothing!_ Alright? So stop acting like you're the fucking seer."

"Excuse me, yea could you two not do this here? Jeff, she isn't here. She left about an hour ago with Tessa. I think they went back to my parents house to study." Tamara said. "Lucas just got here." I looked up at the taller man and his cold eyes stared at me and I wandered. Did he look at her with such scolding looks?

He nodded slowly and turned as if he was going to walk out before he looked at the plate in my hand. One slap and he knocked the plate to the ground.

"Bitch."

…...

I looked over at Jeff and held the sheets tighter to my chest. I bit down on my lap and then let out a deep sigh. I was frustrated. The sex was great, but it was the lingering silence and tension in the air afterward. I rolled over on my side staring at him and the space in between us. This baby was making me crazy. I was angry then I was sad. Then I was happy and then back to either sad or angry. Right now I was sad. I just wanted him to hold me.

"Jeff. Will you look at me please?" I begged.

"I just looked at you for three straight hours." He said.

"Look at me now. Please. I wanna talk to you."

"About?" I didn't respond to him. I refused to respond until he looked at me, and he did. The look in his eyes was so distant. So uncaring.

"I love you." I said blinking back tears. "I know I've been really really confusing, but you just have to, you have to hang in there with me Jeff. I'm not used to this. All these rules that come with being with you and you not telling me things, but everybody else whispering in my ear. The things they're saying hurt me. But nothing hurts more than knowing that I can never have the fairytale I was promised."

"I'm your fiance Xerxes. You're supposed to trust me, no matter what they say, you're always supposed to trust me. We got nothing without that. Nothing but grief. I don't tell you certain things for good reason."

"But I am _your_ fiance. You can't scold me about not trusting you, and then turn around and tell me that I don't need to know certain things." I cried.

"Alright. You wanna know the truth?! Do you wanna know every little aspect!?" He exclaimed glaring at me.

"Yes dammit talk to me!"

"Fine! They're right okay!? Lucas was right! If not about everything, about one thing...I used you. You were a pawn in my game to get my crown. I was going to marry you and toss you and hand your crown off to Taeler. Thing is, she didn't want it after meeting you, and I- I fell in love with you."

"You used me?" I whispered feeling my heart snap.

"Yea. And I've been regretting it since day 1, because it seems like things just keep getting worse and worse because of that one decision." He said letting his head hang.

"I can't believe you." I sniffled. _'Believe it dear, men are so cruel.' _I slowly stood from the bed gathering my clothing from the floor unable to stop the tears flowing uncontrollably down my face.

"Xerxes, please, don't leave. You said you wanted to talk, stay and talk to me."

"Talk to you?" I whispered, sobbing. "Talk to you!? You lied to me! You made a fool out of me! God I can't believe this." I buttoned my top quickly as I stumbled over to the door. My mind was clouded with thoughts and confusion. Such an act of betrayal that I blindly never saw coming.

"Where are you going?" He asked pulling my arm.

"Don't touch me you lying bastard!" I screamed pushing him away from me. I couldn't stay there any longer. I couldn't stay there and let him humiliate any longer. I blinked. Where to, I had no idea.

_'Valkyrie.' I cried in my head._

_'Sh, don't cry child. If I cried every time Rowan and I fought I would've gone crazy.' She giggled. _It was so dark and I could hear water dripping. I ran my hand in front of me feeling for something. Rocks. A rocky wall. I let out deep breaths and sat down alongside the wall and closed my eyes. I could see her now. Her and all her angelic ghostly beauty.

_'How do I do this?' I asked in a trance. _

_'Easy. You just keep your head high and take it step by step. Day by day. Do you think every strong woman was just born strong? No, she was made that way. I see that potential in you. The potential to be a fighter.' She hissed. _

_'I can't.' I said. 'I'm not a fighter. I've never been a fighter. I've always lost. I lost my life and I'm going to lose my love.' _

_'Stop it!' She sneered. She walked over to me with silent steps kneeling in front of me. She touched my face and my cheek nearly froze. Her hands were so cold._

_'You're right. You lost your life, but this is your life now. You were granted a second chance to start over and you are **not** going to sulk through it. Make something of yourself. Jeff needs a strong woman and if he finally decides one day that you aren't it, he may just walk away. You haven't loss yet child. Fight. Open your eyes and see with all new vision.'_

_'Where am I?' I asked her. _

_'You're in the underworld. You have to be careful. It's a dangerous place down here.' She whispered. I nodded at the woman and she backed away from me standing at a distance with her hands folded gently over her stomach. She always stood like that. Every time I saw her. When I was sleeping at night, and I opened my eyes, she'd be there, at the foot of my bed standing with her hands crossed. Her eyes unblinking and her gaze locked. _

I opened my eyes back to reality and the sight came to me. I could see everything as if all the lights were lit. It was a dank cavern like place. I stood up slowly breathing heavily. I moved down the quiet cave looking around. I could hear the faintest sounds coming from my far left and I went into that direction. It was a shocking sight.

I crouched in the corner quietly watching as the woman rode him vigorously. The moans and groans illuminating off the walls of the cave. Her breast bounced in a motion synchronized to the sound of their flesh meeting harshly. Her tattooed body grinding and winding as his hands wandered all over her. She leaned down to meet him as he leaned up to kiss her and they changed positions. I never got a clear shot of his face, only his back as he thrust sharply and quickly into her from behind.

Honestly, I didn't know why I was still waiting here. Maybe it was because I had no idea how to get idea and I wanted to explore. I watched as their actions and words became more frantic as they both reached their climax. It was the one word...name, that the girl called out as she came that struck me as odd. 'Ryker'. I swear I'd heard that before.

…...

I'd managed to find my way away from the couple and down to a bigger section of this place. I'd seen several people..things walking around. They scared me. Now I'd stumbled upon this other place. Candles lined the walls and in the very center of the room was a pentagram and a sharp knife in the center. It looked like the one Jeff had shown me earlier. I walked over to it, picking it up and looking at it. This one was old and worn out. Jagged edged.

"Mmmmm." I heard behind me. I spun around on my heel and looked up to see a man. A disheveled man with a rough unkempt beard and a rugged voice. "I smell a witch." He smirked.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"The question is, who are you? You come into my home and touch my things...it's only fair if I can...touch you too." He walked slow circles around the entrance with a sadistic grin on his face.

"My name is Xerxes." I spoke.

"Ouh. Rings a bell. Yea, know who you are. That pathetic little prince. You're his, princess." He paused and chuckled. "You've been around once or twice huh?" Great, even everyone here knew about it.

"I'm sorry for...touching your..athame." I said.

"It's a very old piece. The rough edge, slices wonders." He said. His eyes stayed on me and I felt a bad feeling creeping up my spine. I morphed into my battle armor to let him know that I would be ready for a fight and apparently he understood my hint.

"You have so much power within you." He said, the words dripping from his lips. "I can't help but to wonder if maybe with our powers combined..could I overthrow the prince before he even takes the throne?" No. He could never beat Jeff. No one could.

"I can't wait to find out." He lunged at me before I could even think twice and we went hurling into one of the walls. He backed off of me for a minute as I held the back of my head.

"You're going to be an easy kill!" He laughed. I rolled out of the way of a fireball and scrambled to my feet.

"Is that what you think?" I asked him catching my breath. "You thought wrong." He charged at me again and I thought about the training I'd had. I spun around and kicked him in the side of the head before kicking him again in his stomach to get space. I stood in front of him and extended my arms. I needed that charge that I had in battle practice. Unfortunately, it didn't seem to be coming.

"Aw what's wrong?" He laughed wiping the side of his mouth. "Bitch doesn't know how to use her own magic." He was right. I didn't. Not fully. I could only do so much. So I ran. More like blinked. Back to the house back to my 'safe' spot, where Jeff was waiting in the kitchen.

"Xerx-"

"Someone's coming!" I exclaimed.

"What?" He asked with a frown on his face.

"I was in the underworld Jeff! I saw some gross shit down there and I saw an athame, I got curious. Some guy came and-" I was cut off by the sound of laughter. Jeff pushed me behind him.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" He growled.

"Sire, your b-...your lady." He chuckled. "Trespassed. I was just teaching her a lesson."

"He tried to kill me Jeff!" I exclaimed.

"It was just a minor scare." He glared.

"Shut up. Both of you." He hissed. "What's your name?" He asked him. Names? Why the fuck was he so worried about names!?

"Dragon..Sire."

"Dragon. I've heard a lot about you. You don't really like me do you?" He smirked.

"Everyone has the differences every now and then." He smiled. Ugh, so fake.

"Well, I don't give a damn about your differences with me, but messing with her is a completely different story." Jeff said. He spoke in a menacing tone as he stalked towards Dragon. He paced in front of him, before standing closely behind him and staring at me.

"What do you think of her?"

"She's...alright." He muttered.

"Just alright? C'mon you don't think she's..sexy?" He said a grin widening on her face. I protectively folded my arms over my chest not really getting what was going on here. I felt more like a sex poster instead of a victim.

"Well yea man, she's pretty damn hot. Lucky man you are."

"Yea." Jeff nodded. He snaked his arm around Dragon's shoulder patting his chest and it was then that I saw him conjure up the athame in his hand.

"That face..that beautiful face, is going to be the last kind thing you see." He whispered. I watched him spin Dragon around pushing him into the wall and plunging the athame into his body dragging it ever so slightly downward. Dragon's eyes widened in shock and pain before he burst into flames and his ashes fell to the floor. The thick black blood staining the silver blade before Jeff looked at me. His look was unreadable. I thought, maybe he'd say something but he didn't. He just turned silently and walked away.

**A/N** Alright, I wanted to get the underworld involved in this chapter along with some magical aspects. Also, if you remember from one of the first chapters who or what 'Ryker' means then you'll know who one of the two mystery people are. That will be further explained in the next chapter.

Now, on a more serious note, I've been attending lots of doctors appointments lately and they all seem to be filled with bad results. All I know right now, is that I'm very sick and I must see a surgeon. I'm not sure how long I'll be inactive, but please bear with me.


End file.
